Kim Possible: Rose of the Night
by Decimater41
Summary: A mysterious adversary called Rose appears just as old rivalries rekindle and Kim falls under the control of an ancient power. While everyone is forced to search for their true allegiances, an enemy of immeasurable power prepares to strike.
1. Prologue

Welcome one and all to my first fanfic, _Rose of the Night_. Thank you for dropping by. I hope you find the story (or what there is of it currently) enjoyable.

My returning readers are probably looking at this and thinking, _"Wait, this is different then when I last looked at it."_ That is completely correct. I have totally changed the prologue to reflect a new plotline. Well, more like the revamp of an old one. Unfortunately, it is still short. I assure you, they do get longer as the story goes on.

**Note**: As of October 13, 2012, all revisions to currently exisitng ROTN chapters have been completed.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim possible, Disney does. I do own any OCs unless otherwise stated.**

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><p>Night had fallen over Castle Rodighan. The wind howled eerily through the towers and battlements, ruffling the brown hair of the figure clad in red martial arts gear who stood on the parapet overlooking the entrance to the castle. He gazed off into the distance, watching the faintly visible storm clouds to the west.<p>

"What is on your mind, Cecil?" a similarly-clothed woman asked as she climbed up beside him, smoothing her platinum blonde hair.

The man's blue eyes met her gray ones. "It's far too quiet around here. I don't like it."

"I understand. The Knights have been inactive lately, which doesn't bode well."

Cecil tugged on his shoulder-length ponytail. "The king has ordered me to keep a close eye on them tonight. He must know something that he's not telling us."

"Am I to infer that you think he doesn't trust us?"

"Now what makes you think I would be inferring something like that, my dear Desra?" he replied sarcastically.

"Who knows what you'd say? That silly brain of yours hasn't been been that bright since you buried it under that stupid hairdo. You know, if you darken the hair a bit and soften your features, you become a carbon copy of the king's daughter." Cecil already did have something of a girlish look to his features, and the hair only made it more obvious.

"I do not see what that has to do with speaking ill of our 'wise and kind' monarch. And my appearance has been useful before when the king had me act as a decoy."

Desra well remembered the day assassins had attempted to kill the princess. She had been tasked with escorting the the king's daughter to safety,... only to discover that she was guarding Cecil in disguise. The only thing freakier than him in a dress was the fact that he actually made a convincing girl, even down to the voice.

"Then it's a good thing you are wimpy and skinny like her, or you never would have passed."

Cecil cocked an eyebrow at the obvious insult to him and the girl he not-so-secretly admired. He smoothed his rankled feelings by chalking it up to jealousy. Before he had time to come up with a suitable comeback, a man in the bulky armor of the Knights of Rodighan came clattering up.

"Sir," he gasped, "His Majesty told to me deliver this to you." He presented Cecil with the heavy roll of parchment characteristic of royal decrees.

Cecil took it hesitantly. Normally the king was too wary of the Knights enough to use them as his errand boys. Cecil and the Dragons of Rodighan had been ordered to supervise the rebellious group whenever they were entrusted with anything of the least importance. He peeled away the royal seal and stared at the curls and loops that formed a disturbing message.

A traitor from among the Knights has revealed that they are planning to overthrow the king, even as this is being written. I hereby decree that they be eliminated. The men of the royal guard are hunting down the trio of leaders in the cellars. Your followers are to take those on the battlements and in the courtyard. Kill all of them, including the one in front of you.

Cecil glanced at Desra. "It's an order from the crown itself," he murmured. "The Knights of Rodighan are to die tonight. Give the prearranged signal."

Desra nodded and clambered down to the courtyard. Cecil drew his katana before facing to the Knight.

"Did the king mention that you were to be rewarded?"

The knight nodded. "He said you would take care of it."

Cecil smiled grimly. "Yes, I will."

The man's eyes widened. "Wait,... no. What about the—"

With a quick flick of his wrist, Cecil drove his sword into the man's chest. He wrenched it out and kicked the corpse to the courtyard below. Moments later, three sets of three horn blasts echoed over the dreary castle. Cecil watched shadowy figures begin their bloody tasks all over the battlements, illuminated by the first flashes of lightning over head. As the impending storm broke, Cecil's mind fell upon a thought gloomier than the current state of the weather.

Where the Dragons next?

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><p>I hope you enjoyed the prologue and I hope you keep reading. ;) Leave a review if you want. They are greatly appreciated.<p> 


	2. Chapter 1 Not Kim

Howdy everyone. Still reading? Great! Glad to hear it. Here is the rewrite of chapter 1. I know it's relatively short, but I promise that future chapters will be longer. Hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, Disney does. I do own any OCs unless otherwise stated.**

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><p><em>Beep, beep.<em>

Monique groaned and rolled over in her bed.

_Beep, beep._

"Okay, okay," she muttered. "I'll be up in a minute."

_Beep beep._

Throwing herself out of bed, Monique grabbed the offending alarm clock and ripped the battery out.

"Alright, I'm up." She tossed the clock on the floor and slammed her door shut. Ten minutes later, she stumbled down the stairs, then looked in the mirror at the bottom of them. A sigh escaped her lips when she realized that her shirt was inside out and her hair still in a mess.

"Ugh, just forget it." She headed for the kitchen, only to collide with her grandparents' German Shepherd. When she poured the milk for her cereal, half of it ended up on her. After finally making through what normally were her early morning activities, Monique glanced at her clock.

"Only eleven. Great," she groaned. Her work shift didn't start till three, and she wasn't too keen on stumbling around like a clumsy idiot for four hours. Returning to her room, he fixed her shirt and hair, and changed into a different pair of pants that didn't clash horribly with the rest of her outfit. She then journeyed to the basement and walked over to an empty section of the wall. Kneeling down, she located and pushed a switched situated on the baseboard. A small, square section of the wall swung open, revealing a shiny katana and a set of martial arts gear. She slipped the gear on over her current outfit, the took the sword's scabbard and fastened it around her waist. Removing the katana form it's stand, she entered a basic sword fighting stance and began to practice her blocks and parries.

"Looking for a real opponent?"

Monique assumed a defensive stance, then relaxed. "Uh, no. My grandpa found the hole."

A hooded figure clad in similar gear to her stepped out from some shadows. "Not my fault you lost control of your sword. The move was an extremely simple disarming tactic. You should have been able to avoid it easily."

Glancing over at the wall, Monique found the spot where her sword had flown into the wall a week back. It had left an unmistakeable hole, and she had a fun time trying to come up with a reason for it being there, without explaining the real reason why.

"I was tired, okay?"

"You're always tired. That's no excuse."

He got a snort for a reply. "You never think anything is an excuse, monkey head."

Her conversation partner cleared his throat

"Oh, wait, I forget," Monique intoned in a sarcastically apologetic voice, "we're not supposed to say the word "monkey" around each other. Who came up with that stupid notion?"

"'That stupid notion' has been in place for hundreds of years."

"That just means that it has been stupid for hundreds of years."

The hooded figure sighed. "When will you learn to respect tradition?"

"When tradition learns that it doesn't have to follow the same silly rituals used by some overbearing guy from the past."

"If our leader learned that you were disrespecting the great Cecil she would-"

"Totally agree with me." Monique cut in. Or did you not hear her speech on the pointlessness of doing the same worn out things over and over again."

"All due respect, of course, but our leader has a rather warped view of tradition because of some things which happened in the past. Things which I cannot mention without permission."

"You're as hush hush as that father of yours"

The figure bowed. "I appreciate the compliment."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Monique cocked her head to the side. "What are you doing here any way?"

"Our great and powerful leader has told me to inform that something unusual will happen to you today."

"What else is new? I've had a million things go wrong so far. What's one more odd thing? And since when did she become a soothsayer?"

"At the same time you were admitted to the Dragons. Both are rather odd and confusing."

Monique bristled at the very obvious barb. "Listen, it wasn't my decision to enter. It was my parents' choice that I follow in their footsteps. "

"Then they made a poor choice."

"Just get out!" the irate girl yelled at him. Beating a hasty retreat, the figure disappeared up the stairs. Monique drove her sword into the wall.

"Oh the nerve of that guy!" She then became aware that her sword was still in the wall. Monique smacked her forehead after she pulled it out.

"Gramps is going to asking questions tonight," she sighed ruefully. The sound of the phone forced her up the stairs to answer it.

"Hello. Jefferson residence, Monique speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hey Monique!" the voice of her best friend Kim Possible came through the phone.

"Oh hey Kim. Watcha calling for?"

"Just wanted to let you I just got a hit on my site. I should be back in time for work though. But if I'm a bit late..."

"Gotcha covered girl." Monique replied cheerfully.

"Thanks a bunch."

"As you would say, no big."

"See ya this afternoon."

"All right." Monique set down the phone. "Man, I wish I was more like her."

**-KP-**

The next three hours were full of mistakes and accidents for the dark skinned girl, including putting milk in her lemonade, throwing dirty clothes in the bath tub, and tumbling down the stairs. When she finally left for work, she got caught in every kind of traffic back up imaginable and arrived a five minutes late at Club Banana. Unsurprisingly, Kim wasn't there. Monique wasn't bothered. As a rule of thumb, Kim showed up five minutes after Monique did, no matter what time the latter arrived.

But when Kim still hadn't shown up an hour later, Monique really began to worry. Not only was she concerned for her friend's safety, She was also obligated to call and let the manager know if any employees were over an hour late. Since lot's of people wanted to work at Club Banana, it would be easy for the manager to simply fire Kim and hire somebody else. She was just reaching for the phone when the redhead stumbled in looking tired. Monique examined girl's facial expression more closely. Her friend had a sad look on her face. It was so subtle, however, that most people would just pass it off as exhaustion. She laid her hand gently on Kim's shoulder.

"Tell me everything," she said quietly. Kim stared at her hands, as if there was something wrong with them.

"These hands." she said, almost wearily, "are stained with blood. Blood that cries for vengeance."

"Woah there girl!" Monique exclaimed. "Don't go all Lady Macbeth on me." She forced the girl's comment to the back of her and started racking her brain for ways to cheer Kim up. "I know, you need a distraction. Take a look through the store. You can have anything you like. It'll be on me."

Kim looked up, a smile crossing her face, "Anything?" she asked teasingly.

Monique glared at her. "You know what I mean." she replied.

"And you mean?"

"Keep it reasonable, well as reasonable as you can get in this store."

Kim giggled and dove into the aisles of clothes.

"I wonder what that was?" Monique thought to herself. "First she's all moody and then she's as happy as a kid on the last day of school." Kim scampered back to the counter holding an article of clothing in her hand. Monique glanced at what she had found. It was a black leather jacket with a rose and stem stitched on the back. There was a tag that said "Clearance" on it. The price was twenty dollars. Monique whistled. "Now that is a deal." she said eyeing Kim as she rang the item up. "Anything else I can get you?"

"Well," Kim began hesitantly, "yes there is, but I have a confession to make first.

"Oh?" Monique raised her eyebrow.

"You see, I'm not Kim."

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><p>Well, you just met the main character of our story, 'Not Kim.' Well okay, that's not her name. You'll find out in the next chapter though. ;) If you want, lleave a review. They are greatly appreciated.<p> 


	3. Chapter 2 The Rose

Dun-duh-duh-dah! I now present to you the complete and updated chapter 2! Hope you like it. :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, Disney** does.

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><p>"Tweebs!" an irritated voice rang through a house in Middleton, Colorado. The twin brothers addressed by that title could be seen running down a flight of stairs holding what suspiciously resembled a journal. The owner of the voice, a red-haired girl roughly eighteen years old, emerged from her room and desperately tried to catch the journal thieves, finally cornering them in the basement.<p>

"Jim and Tim Possible!" the girl shouted. "What do you think you're doing with my journal?!"

"We were going to copy some of the entries to a computer," Jim began.

"And upload them to the internet." his brother finished. "Can't you see it now? 'The Romantic Life of Kim Possible, with excerpts from her journal.'"

"It would be a smash hit," they both chorused.

"If you do, you guys are going to get smashed." Kim replied irritably. "Give me back my journal."

The twins shared mischievous smiles. "If you promise to let us come on your next date with Ron."

Kim cocked an eyebrow. "In case you two dweebs forgot, not only will Ron be out of town for a while, the three of us are also home alone. Which means Mom's not here to save you. "

Jim and Tim sighed in defeat before reluctantly handing Kim the journal, which she promptly returned to its hiding place in her room.

"I know I'm supposed to love them," she muttered, "but that doesn't mean I have to like them." Kim flopped onto the living room couch and turned on the TV.

"_...but despite all attempts by the government to keep it from public knowledge, the theft of a hundred tons of experimental explosives now hangs over the country like an impending thunderstorm. The explosives were stolen in groups of two tons each from fifty different facilities. Homeland Security claims they are doing everything in their power to find them and apprehend those responsible, but so far investigations have gotten nowhere. More on that story later. We now return to sports news..." _

Kim stared thoughtfully for a moment. "Who would steal that much explosives? Drakken's gone good, Gemini's in jail, Dementor's at some family reunion, Frugal Lucre wouldn't do something of that magnitude, and Motor Ed only does car related thefts." She concluded that it was probably just some run of the mill criminal and that her help was most likely unnecessary.

_Beep, beep, be-beep._

Kim answered her Kimmunicator. "What's the sitch?"

"Hey Kim," he genius friend Wade Load replied. "Just got a hit on the sight."

Kim's face lit up. Since the Lorwardian invasion several months ago, the number of missions she received had steadily declined. Global Justice finally decided to crack down on the world's super-villains, and Kim feared she might soon become useless. Needless to say, she now welcomed any mission she got, no matter how simple.

"Anything to do with explosives thefts I just found out about on TV."

"Uh, no. It's actually kind of odd. Someone's requested to meet you at the ruins of Drakken's Caribbean Lair."

"Got any nearby rides?"

"Yeah. Your dad is testing out an experimental hover-jet nearby. He should be able to swing by and pick you up."

Kim smiled. "You rock Wade."

"I try," Wade replied cheerfully.

**-KP-**

"Thanks for the ride Dad!" Kim called out.

"No problem Kimmie-cub," her father responded. "Just be back in time for dinner, okay?"

Kim gave him a thumbs up, then lept through the open door of the hover-jet. As she plummeted through the air, the usual adrenaline rush hit her. Kim felt uncertain at times whether this feeling of excitement was what drove her back to the game of saving the world every time she considered quitting. "But I'm not a thrill seeker," she told herself emphatically and, so doing, dismissed the thought from her mind. As the ground flew upward, she yanked the ripcord, deploying the parachute. After floating the rest of the distance downward, she landed with the ease of of long practice and scanned the rubble. Seeing nothing she crept stealthily through the ruin to investigate further. She spotted a hatch set into the ground and approached it cautiously. When she tugged on the handle, the door did not budge, and inspecting it more closely, she noticed a fingerprint identification console. She activated her wrist Kimmunicator. "Hey Wade! I've got a sitch here."

Her computer genius friend's face appeared on the device's screen. "What's up Kim?" asked Wade.

"I found a hatch in the middle of what's left of the lair. Unfortunately, it needs a fingerprint I.D. to open." Kim informed him.

"Scan it and I'll see what I can do," replied her friend.

Kim held the Kimmunicator near the console and hit "scan." "Okay, Wade. Got it."

Wade viewed the results and his face clouded. "No way I can hack this. The technology is way beyond Drakken's normal equipment.

"Which means it's probably not his," Kim muttered. "Any good news?"

"Um, it's very weird, but definitely good. The required fingerprints... are yours."

"A bit disturbing," mused Kim. "Hey wait! How would you know what my fingerprints are like?"

"I have my ways," replied Wade evasively. "Anyway, be careful. This could be a trap."

"I'm not too worried. It sounded like the person needed help."

"Then why does the hatch require your fingerprints?"

"To make sure it's me, of course."

"Come to think of it, how would someone get your fingerprints, anyway?"

Then teen hero glared at the screen. "The same way you did." She smirked and opened the door.

Wade sniffed as Kim vaulted into the hole. But when he tried to contact her a couple minutes later, he got no response.

After ten or so fruitless attempts to reach Kim, Wade contacted Global Justice.

**-KP-**

Kim crept through the basement of the lair, carefully watching for signs of someone lying in wait. Stepping through a doorway, Kim surveyed the dimly lit room she had entered. When she walked further into the room, she noted that the room was completely empty. Her mind screamed, "Trap!"

"Hello, Kim," a voiced snaked through the darkness.

"Who are you?" Kim asked.

"Why don't you turn around and see?"

Kim wheeled and look of astonishment spread across her face. "I can't believe what I'm seeing," she thought aloud.

"Aw, come on. That's all you could think of? Drakken's given better greetings than that." The figure who stepped out from the shadows looked exactly like Kim, right down to the mission outfit, only missing a Kimmunicator.

Kim composed herself and stared at her double. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Rose Possible."

"You're a clone, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then why the last name?"

Rose smiled at Kim. "It makes me sound more professional. But I didn't call you here to talk."

"Then what did you call me here for?"

Rose smirked. "I wanted to see if you're as good as everyone says you are."

"What, do you want fight me or something?"

"Exactly, I want to fight you."

"Very well," Kim sighed, sinking into a fighting stance. She was completely astonished at what happened next. Rose turned her back on Kim and walked out of the room. Kim followed her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"What?" Rose replied, turning. "I have to set up the system if we're going to play."

"Play? I thought we were going to fight."

Rose let out a long, loud laugh. "Oh my, that's a good one," she said gasping for breath. "You thought I wanted to physically fight you. That wouldn't be fair. I decided, since we're both really bad at video games, to make things even by fighting you that way."

"Can't handle a challenge?" Kim shot back.

"No, I was being nice to you."

"So you think you can beat me?"

"No," Rose replied, a smug look on her face, "I know I can beat you."

"Prove it."

"As you wish," Rose said, assuming a stance identical to the one Kim used. She then struck out with half a dozen punches, which Kim barely managed to block. For five minutes they traded kicks and punches with nobody landing a hit.

"Still think you can beat me?" asked Kim as they both stood back for a breather. "We seem pretty evenly matched."

Rose nodded. "I'll admit, you do fight fairly well. However, I still have a surprise waiting." She raised her hands into a combat ready position, and lashed out unexpectedly at Kim. Kim dodged the blow, but when she raised her head, she was face to face with a red mist. Rose grinned at her, "I wouldn't touch that stuff if I were you."

"What is it?"

"Find out for yourself."

"Yeah, right," Kim replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She placed her hand on the corridor wall, "Like I would stick my hand into that stuff."

"Then you'd better be quick on your feet." Rose lashed out again, forcing Kim to jump back out of reach. After a minute of this unusual dance, Kim noticed that Rose appeared to be growing weary.

"_This is my chance,"_ she thought, and aimed a knockout punch strait for her opponent's head. But, at the last possible second, Rose grabbed Kim's fist in her hand and threw her into the wall. When Kim stood up, she noticed a red mist drifting off her hand.

Rose grinned at her. "Checkmate."

"Doesn't seem to do much..." Kim trailed off as her hand began throb painfully. The pain escalated as the seconds went by and it was all she could do to keep herself from screaming. Collapsing to the ground, she looked up to see Rose standing over her. A quick swipe to the jaw sent Kim into the merciful blackness of oblivion. Rose walked over to a panel set in the wall. She hit a few buttons and disabled the jamming field she had set up. _Beep Beep Be-beep._ The Kimmunicator's ring-tone echoed loudly in the absolute silence of the lair. Rose bent down and removed the device from Kim's wrist. She looked down at the teen hero's prone form.

"Hmm," she said aloud, "My creator was right, your not all that." She then deactivated the gadget, put it on her wrist, and silently exited the lair.

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><p>What will happen to Kim? Find out in the next chapter, <strong>A Mixed Bag<strong>.


	4. Chapter 3 A Mixed Bag

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim possible.

Edit: I added a fair bit of more dialogue between Rose and Monique, as well as cleaning up a couple other things.

Thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta-reading.

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><p>Head of Global Justice Dr. Elizabeth Director sat in her office, pondering her latest problem. An epidemic of large-scale thefts had been taking place across the world, but no one could catch the culprits.<p>

"Ma'am," an agent with long green hair stuck her head through the door.

"What is it, Agent Red?"

"Kim Possible's genius friend would like to talk to you. He seems rather concerned."

"Tell him I'll take his call in a minute."

Agent Red nodded and retreated into the hallway. "Boss seems rather moody lately. Wonder what's bugging her. Oh well, now's not the time for pointless speculation." She grinned. The hacker kid hadn't said much, but Red was sure Kim was in trouble. "If I can get this mission, It'll be the perfect opportunity to check my theory." She pulled out her radio and turned it on. "Garfield, Williams, meet me at the assembly room in five." The agent then made for the control room, running at almost superhuman speeds. She practically flew into the control room, every one looking up at her intrusion. Dashing over to the communications console, she shoved the agent sitting there out of way, opened up a conversation window, and informed Wade that Director would talk to him in a minute.

"How long is 'a minute'?"

"Well..."

"Let me guess. Something like an hour?"

"I don't know for sure. She's been devoting all of her time to this latest case. So far, she's been in her office for about three days now." Agent Red thought for a moment. "Tell you what, if you can give me an outline of what's going on, maybe I can-"

"That won't be necessary," Director announced walking into the room. She stared at the screen containing an image of Wade's concerned features. "What appears to be the problem Mr. Load?"

Wade launched into a spiel telling how Kim had received a hit on her site, which had asked her to come to the ruins of Drakken's Caribbean lair. When she arrived, she found a hatch set in the ground, which required her fingerprints. He had lost contact with her when she entered. "... and the Kimmunicator was just deactivated!" Wade finished his frantic rant.

"Calm down." Betty ordered."Where is Ron Stoppable?"

"He went on a trip to Japan." replied Wade. "Do you want me to call him?"

"Yes," Director replied. "Tell him to wait at his house. He will be contacted there. I'll take care of calling the parents." Wade nodded and the image disappeared. Betty turned to her communications officer. "Get Shego and Dr. Drakken on the phone," she requested.

**-KP-**

Shego lay on the bed in her motel room, listening to Drakken ranting outside the window, vainly trying to tune him out. When they had still been villains, she had made a show of pretending not hear him, but, no matter how hard she tried, the mad scientist's whiny voice was impossible to ignore. Right now, he was in the middle of trying to sell one of his inventions. It seemed important to him, for he had ordered her to drop whatever she was doing and come help him. Her ruminations were interrupted by her cellphone's ring-tone blaring out one of M. C. Honey's latest hits. She glanced at the caller i.d. and shook her head.

"What do you want?" she asked, answering the phone.

"I need you at Global Justice headquarters-," the crisp, clear voice of Dr. Director began.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop right there. I'm on vacation, and I'm not going anywhere. Got it?" Shego cut in.

"If you won't cooperate, may I speak to Dr. Drakken?"

"Yeah, well, um, he's kinda busy right now." Shego answered as the sound of Drakken's pleading voice drifted into the room. "As am I, so, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go back to relaxing." But before Shego could hang up, Director said one more thing.

"Kim Possible has gone missing."

"And this affects me, how?" Shego's tone of voice did not change, but she didn't hang up either.

"She disappeared while investigating one of the good doctor's lairs, the Caribbean one I believe." Director replied.

Shego froze. In slightly shaky voice she asked, "Are you sure it was the Caribbean lair?"

"Positive."

"I'll be over in a few minutes." Shego grabbed her flight suit and walked out the door. "I dearly hope I'm wrong," she thought to herself.

**-KP-**

"Well," Monique said, staring at the girl in front of her, "if you're not Kim, who are you?"

"It's a long story," the girl mumbled.

"I'm only interested in the reason why you're standing in front of me and Kim is not."

A long pause followed in which neither of the them spoke or moved. Finally the other girl sighed. "My name is Rose Imelda Possible. I am a Kim-clone created by Dr. Drakken to aid him in his fight against Kim Possible. Due to various reasons, Kim and I didn't meet each other until about three hours ago and we failed to get along. Kim doesn't like clones, and I lost control of myself."

"As far I can tell, you're the reason for Kim's absence, right?"

"Yep."

"And I'm guessing she won't be showing up any time to soon."

"Right again," Rose sighed.

"Okay, I won't ask what you did to Kim, that's between you and her. However, I am ordering you to finish her shift." At that, Rose's green eyes narrowed.

"And who do you think you are, giving orders to me?" Her voice grew hard.

"I think that you owe Kim this at least. Probably word of whatever you did to Kim isn't going to become public knowledge, seeing that a clone is involved. In that case, if someone doesn't cover for her, she'll be fired."

"So? Do it yourself."

"You know what, I think I will." Monique replied with a holier-than-thou tone to her voice. "Here's your jacket." She threw the leather jacket at Rose, who caught it and exited the store. But as she walked out onto the street, something pulled her back.

"I guess I do owe Kim. She'll be mad enough at me as it is." She turned around and headed back toward the store.

Monique sat at the desk fervently hoping no one would come along. Her hopes were shattered when Coco Banana himself walked through the door. "Kim's sunk," she told herself. She watched as the man approached the desk.

"Ah, Miss Jefferson. Where might I find Miss Possible?" Monique was steeling herself to tell him that Kim was not there, before she was stopped by a cheery voice from the back row.

"I'm right here, Mr. Banana. I was cleaning up a mess in a side aisle."

"Good, I have a matter of the greatest importance to discuss with you." Coco led 'Kim' into a back room.

Monique shook her head. Despite having only met Kim once under unfriendly circumstances, Rose was imitating the girl exactly. When Coco left the store, Rose wearily plodded to the counter.

"I hope that makes you happy," she gasped. "Kim takes interest in the most boring things."

Monique smiled. "It should help improve your position with Kim and family. Her dad is not gonna be too pleased to find out that you beat up his daughter."

"Yeah, that and the fact we met before."

"Wait, you know Kim's dad?"

"It was during the brain tap machine incident. We had a nice long talk, and I almost let him go. He doesn't remember me at the moment, but that'll change the instant he lays eyes on me."

Monique looked thoughtful for a moment. "Care to explain your earlier comment?"

"Which one?"

"The 'hands are stained with blood' one."

Rose frowned. "I'm not sure why I said that. I seem to be associating it with an Agent Alpha and something to do with the name of some constellation. Or I could have been referring to what I did to Kim."

"I hope you didn't hurt her too badly."

"Nothing I can't fix easily. I think her pride was wounded pretty badly, though. It's not every day someone comes along and puts her flat on her back. Now, I have a question for you."

"And what might that be?"

"Do you run into clones all the time? I mean, you stayed ridiculously calm when I told you I wasn't Kim."

Monique suddenly grew very serious. "When you've seen the things I have, it takes a lot to unbalance you."

Rose didn't push the topic and instead began unpacking newly arrived clothes. As she organized the latest fashions, she began to wonder why on earth she was helping Kim.

"I mean," she thought, "I'm sure she'll hate me anyway. I could sneak away right now and no one would be wiser."

"_But Monique would want you to help,"_ the voice of her conscience reminded her. Rose sighed.

"Here we go again." It wasn't that she disliked her conscience, in fact, it was very useful at some times. But other times, like right now, it was a pain in the neck.

"_Well, if you would listen to me more often, I wouldn't have to do this,"_ it shot at her.

"Please just shut up and go away. Are you here to torture me or something?"

"_No, that was Gemini's department."_

"Very funny. Wait, Gemini? Who's he and where did that come from?"

The usually talkative conscience fell silent.

"Oh, great. Now you choose to shut up." Rose picked up a collection of empty cardboard boxes and carried them outside for the recycle truck. When she came back in, Monique was sitting at the counter, staring into space. Rose sat down beside her.

"What's buggin' ya?"

Monique stirred. "Do you know why I moved to Middleton?"

"Um, no. Actually, I didn't know you existed before today."

"Oh, yeah, right." Monique gave a faint chuckle. "I'm forgetting that you're not Kim. Several years ago, my parents and I were watching a movie at home, when the doorbell rang. My father got up to answer it, and...," Monique stopped for a moment, "...didn't come back. There was a gunshot and my mother screamed for me to run upstairs and hide. I heard another shot, then footsteps coming up the stairs. In terror, I jumped out of the window in my room, all the way to the ground below. Fortunately, the neighbors heard all the commotion and called the police. But by the time they arrived, it was too late. Both of my parents were dead and the gang was long gone. Oddly enough though, they didn't take anything." Monique dried her slightly moist eyes with her sleeve.

"Ordinarily this where I would give you my handkerchief," Rose joked, "But I don't happen to have one."

Monique smiled. "Anyway, I swore that I would be prepared for anything after that. Of course, I still have my moments. Kim's also talked about people creating clones of her, and your initial behavior was not Kim-like at all."

"Do you remember the name of the gang?"

"I think they called themselves the Jupiter Gang."

Rose snarled. "Those scheming backstabbers!"

"You know them?"

"Heck, yeah. I was part of them, for about three weeks. Then Tommy..." she trailed off. "Never mind. Normally they just do the things any gang would do, but sometimes they take special assignments, like assassinations. Any reason why somebody would want your parents dead?"

Monique could think of one reason but decided against mentioning it. "No, not that I know of. I moved in with my grandparents here in Middleton. Money's short, though. We have just enough to survive on."

Rose nodded sympathetically. "Not to seem insensitive, but how much longer do I have to stay here?"

"Your, or more properly Kim's, shift ends at four." Monique gestured to the clock.

Rose glanced at it. "That's in half an hour. Why does four o'clock sound familiar? Oh yeah, that's right. The explosives I set up in the lair should be going off then."

Monique looked at her, blinking. "That wouldn't happen to be where Kim is right now, would it?" she asked worriedly.

Rose smacked her face. "Idiot! I knew I forgot something." She looked at Monique. "I suppose you want me to rescue her, if she's even still there."

"Of course."

"All right," Rose sighed. She activated the stolen Kimmunicator.

"Kim!" Wade cried as his face appeared, "Are you alright? And why are you in Middleton?"

Rose took a deep breath, quickly running over in head what she wanted to say. "Wade," she finally spoke, "you're going to have do everything I say without question or Kim is going to die. First, I need a ride to Drakken's Caribbean lair that is not provided by Global Justice or Shego, second, I need you to get hold of the aforementioned Global Justice and warn them not to send a search party, finally, I need you to do this without anyone knowing I'm not Kim. Did you get all of that?"

Wade nodded in confirmation and signed out. Within a minute, he was back again.

"Well?" Rose inquired.

"I've got bad news. GJ already sent a search party and it's too late to call them back."

"Any good news?"

"It's a mixed bag. I was able to keep Director from getting too suspicious, but she's definitely curious."

"Great, the last thing I need is Betty sticking her nose in my business. Anything else?"

"The only ride close and fast enough is a hypersonic hover jet currently being tested Kim's dad and brothers. Fortunately, I was also able convince Director not to tell Kim's parents that their daughter is missing, so that won't be an issue."

"Thanks Wade. Oh, and by the way, my name's Rose."

Wade nodded and disappeared from the screen. Rose turned to Monique who shook her head.

"I still don't see how someone could forget that they were gonna blow something up."

Rose grinned sheepishly. "That's the story of my life. Always forgetting things."

Monique shook her head again as Rose dived into the restroom to change into her copy of Kim's mission gear.

Five minutes later, Rose was seated between Kim's brothers in the back of the hover jet, fervently hoping they would make it to the lair in time.

"So Kimmie-cub," Mr. Possible called back, "why go to the same place twice in a day?"

'His daughter' hesitated a moment. "It's top-secret, Dad," she replied. "But if we don't get to the lair in ten minutes, the world as we know it will be changed forever."

Dr. P. chuckled. "That's good enough for me." He pushed the accelerator to full. "Kids these days," he said wistfully to himself. "Reminds me of back when..."

When they arrived over the island, Rose glanced at the Kimmunicator's stopwatch. She had five minutes. Standing up quickly, she grabbed a parachute, strapped it to her back, and walked towards the craft's opening door. She paused a moment before jumping.

"Thanks for the ride, James."

"You're welcome Kimmie-cub. Wait. What did she just call me?"

**-KP-**

Down below, Shego, Agent Red, Agent Williams, and Agent Garfield stood in front of the very obvious hatch in the ground. Shego promptly melted it with her plasma and dropped into the hole. Agent Red turned around and looked at her companions.

"Garfield, you stay put here. If you see so much as an ant, sing out. Williams, you're with me."

Both of them nodded and Agent Garfield took his position several yards away. He was expecting to sit there till the others got back, doing absolutely nothing. You can imagine his surprise when he saw a hover jet fly over the island. To add to his amazement, a figure jumped from the craft and rocketed toward the ground, waiting until the last minute to pull its parachute. Agent Garfield whipped out a pair of binoculars and took a closer look before quickly putting them down.

"Agent Red," he hastily called into his radio, "believe it or not I just spotted Kim, parachuting onto the island."

"Are you sure it was Kim?" Shego's voice demanded.

"Yes, why?"

"We just ran across Kim ourselves, down here."

**-KP-**

Rose hit the ground running and raced for the hatch.

"Outta the way!" she yelled at the man who was standing there. Pushing past him, she vaulted into the hole, desperately trying to remember where she had planted the explosives. She let her feet guide her through the many passageways, finally arriving at something of a control room. Quickly glancing at a diagram of the complex, she guessed at the locations of the explosives and took off running again. When she arrived at the first cache, she pulled out a knife and with a quick slash severed a group of wires, effectively disabling the unstable explosives. The second cache was merely a couple halls down, and Rose repeated the process there. As she raced for the third cache, she looked at the Kimmunicator and noticed she had one minute left. The hallways felt endless and Rose could swear she had been running for an hour. She finally reached the place she had thought would be the cache and found... nothing.

"Oh, shoot," was her last thought as she watched the countdown timer reach zero.

* * *

><p>(Big grin.) Cliff hanger! How will Rose get out this mess? What new friends will she meet? Will Kim be all right? And where does Ron fit into this? Find out in the next amazing chapter, <strong>Into Shadow<strong>!


	5. Chapter 4 Into Shadow

Dun, da, da dun! Here it is ladies and gentlemen, Rose of the Night Chapter 4 Into Shadow. I was going to wait till next week, but changed my mind.

Please R&R. I welcome anonymous reveiws.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. Disney does.

EDIT: Thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta reading.

* * *

><p>"Oh, shoot," Rose thought as she watched the countdown timer reach zero. Alarms began to blare, and she could hear a recording of her voice ringing out over the P.A. system.<p>

"Detonation in twenty seconds. Myself, if you're still in here, it was good knowing you."

Rose grimaced. "Never thought I would actually be around to hear that." Quickly glancing around her, she smashed through a door to her right. A rectangular metal object resembling a fridge labeled _Heat Resistant Shego-proof Chamber _caught her attention. She dashed over to it, yanked the door open, and hurried in. Just after she sealed the door behind her, a jolt rocked the chamber and she abruptly lost consciousness.

**-KP-**

_Ten seconds before._

Up above, Shego helped a groggy Kim into the Global Justice hover-jet. She turned to Agent Red.

"You go ahead and get Kimmie to a hospital. I'm gonna do some scouting."

"Might that have something to do with the person Agent Garfield spotted earlier?"

Shego frowned. "Stow the curiosity. You'll find out soon enough."

Red narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me, but I'm in charge of this operation. That means I call the shots."

"Oh yeah?" Shego replied, igniting her plasma. "You want to back that up?"

The agent prepared answer, but was cut off by the loud roar of an explosion and an intense blast of heat, which threw both her and Shego to the ground. A shock wave rippled through the island and clouds of black smoke rose into the air. When the chaos subsided, Shego stood up and surveyed her surroundings. A good half of the island had been demolished and she was surprised they had survived.

"I wonder if this was Rose's idea of a practical joke," she thought. Red stepped beside her.

"Do I want to know why someone would do this?"

Shego let out a discouraged sigh, something unusual for her. "I don't know myself. She's very unpredictable."

"Okay," Red practically shouted, "I am sick of your vagueness. Who is She?"

Instead of replying, Shego stared into the distance, lost in thought. She shook herself and looked at Red. "Our worst nightmare."

**-KP-**

Kim sat in the back of the hover-jet, looking at her hand. She wasn't sure what had happened to it, but it looked like belonged on some kind of freakish monster. The skin had become tough and blackened, and pus oozed out every time she moved it. Kim nearly retched at the sight. She was also rather worried.

"I just doesn't make sense. There is no way that she and I are equally matched, even if she is my clone." A sliver of doubt ran through her mind. "Could she possibly have just been feeling me out? Seeing how strong I was? No, it couldn't be. I must not be operating a hundred percent, that's all" However, the nagging feeling refused to leave Kim's mind, and she knew that she had given her all in that fight.

She glanced up as Shego and a green-haired woman in GJ uniform stepped into the craft. Shego walked over to her to check on her hand. One glance was all she needed.

"Well Princess, looks like you bit off more than you could chew. Does it hurt?"

"Actually, I can't even feel it."

Shego nodded. "That's what I thought. Now if we can't get that fixed within forty-eight hours, it'll be permanent."

"Do you know how to fix it?"

"No. Only Rose does."

Kim scowled as she remembered the doppelganger that had defeated her. "She was using a red mist. What exactly was it?"

"An highly dangerous acid. The interesting thing is, it only effects living tissue."

Kim was silent for a minute. "Why did you guys never tell me about her?"

Shego sighed. "That was Drakken's idea. He claimed that he wanted to use Rose as a 'secret weapon.' I think he was afraid that you would talk her into switching sides."

"That's still no reason to not tell me."

"I know. Look, there's something else you should know. Rose is very unusual."

Kim snorted. "No kidding. She said she wanted to play against me in a video game. Said something about evening the odds."

"Another one of her infamously ridiculous jokes. I assure you there was never the intention of playing you. I bet she doesn't even have a console. The only thing she does worse than video games is cook."

"Then there are least two things we have in common, other than looks."

"That, however, is where the similarity ends." An unusual look crept over Shego's features. "Rose was designed for combat. She is a weapon, not to mention an unstable one. I'm surprised she didn't kill you on the spot."

"She might have killed me?" Kim asked in surprise. "What makes you think that?"

"The past."

"You mean?" A sickening feeling ran through Kim's gut at the thought that something with her face would stoop so low as to take a life.

"Yes, I do. Rose has killed several people and nearly killed many others, including myself. I told Mr. Genius that she was too dangerous, but he refused to listen. Then, he launched his Diablo plan. When you and the doofus were tied up in the storage room, Rose decided she was going to pay you a visit, despite Drakken's protests. But by the time she got there, you were already upstairs fighting us. I haven't seen her since."

Kim nodded, noting that Shego was not her usual sarcastic self. She actually looked, impossible as it seemed, upset.

"Right now Kimmie, you just rest. I have some thinking to do."

**-KP-**

That evening, a sleek, black Cessna 172 Skyhawk floatplane flew over the half-destroyed island which had once been the site of Drakken's lair. The pilot hummed the hallelujah chorus as he glanced over his private plane's controls. Moments later, the cockpit was filled with light as a bright red flare arched by.

"How rude! Guess it's worth investigating," he thought to himself and prepared the aircraft for landing.

**-KP-**

Rose holstered her flare gun, and took another look at her arm. Thanks to the heat resistant chamber, she'd been saved from being roasted alive, but the shock of impact had fractured her arm and smashed the Kimmunicator. Upon regaining consciousness, Rose had found herself choking on the water which was rapidly rising in the chamber. Realizing she didn't have much time left, she had kicked the latch open and floated out of the sinking chamber. Escaping from the one sticky sitch had then left struggling to stay afloat in the treacherous waters, with one arm broken. Fortunately, the currents had swept back her on shore. Then, she heard a plane flying overhead and promptly fired a flare. She watched as the plane began its descent, wondering who was piloting it. When the plane landed on the water, she pulled her flare gun back out out and fired a flare at the ground about twelve feet away. The seaplane taxied over to her position and its door opened.

"Well hurry up," a male voice called, "I can't stay all day. Have a very busy schedule you know." Rose waded over to the plane and the pilot reached his hand down to help her up. Once they were in the cockpit, he flipped the overhead lights on. Rose sized up her rescuer. He wore all-black clothes which you would associate with a secret agent and a carefully tailored jacket of the same color. His slicked-back black hair was mostly concealed by an officer's cap loaded with more gold embellishing than Rose thought possible to fit on one hat. Two audacious black eyes peered from beneath the brim and nicely complimented his impertinent grin. He twirled his black mustache and tipped his hat with exaggerated gallantry.

"Exhilarated to meet you, Ma'am."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Quite exhilarating Mr..."

"Chief executive officer Captain Mercer," he replied, shaking her right hand. "Nice meeting you."

"Ouch! Watch it! That's the arm I broke."

"How was I supposed to know you'd broken it?" Mercer asked in mock offense.

"Uh, the fact that it was limply hanging by my side should have said something. Ugh, whatever." She thought for a moment. "What are you chief executive officer of?"

Mercer struck a pose. (Or at least as well as you can in an airplane cabin) "The Shadow Agents! We're a top top top secret elite organization for- oh no. I'm opening my mouth too wide again. Boss will kill me. He really expects his chief executive officer to have more discretion."

"Boss?"

"Boss is the leader of our organization. Speaking of discretion, I hope we can count on yours, Miss Possible."

"Actually, I'm not Kim. The name's-"

"Rose. Rose Imelda Possible, if I remember correctly." The man interrupted. "We learn things, you know. That's the upside of being a secret organization. We probably know more about you than you do. Which means Boss must know more about me than I do! Aah! Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked."

"Okay," Rose thought, barely hiding her surprise. "It's official. I'm freaked. This guy knows _**way **_too much."

She turned to Mercer. "Listen, I need to get this arm fixed up, and a place to spend the night. If you can help me with either of those, I'd be much obliged."

"It would be my pleasure. But don't you think you're being a little quick to assume that I'm here to help? I am, of course, but there are plenty of people who wouldn't be, even within my own organization."

"Well, I figure that if you were gonna pull a fast one on me, you would have already done it. Then, there's the fact that, in the past, people who try to harm me usually end up on the ground screaming for mercy."

"In that case, I'd better hustle. One Shadow Agent medical facility coming right up." Mercer flipped off the overhead lights and prepared for liftoff.

**-KP-**

On the peak of Mount Yamanouchi in Japan, a blond-haired young man sat completely still, his eyes closed. He meditated, trying to find his inner clam, as Sensei had called it. Right now, he felt like it was playing a great big game of hide and seek with him. He closed his eyes and tried thinking of nacos. That didn't help. Then, a voice called out to him through the silence.

"Ron!" Kim's voiced echoed in his head, sounding distant and empty.

Ron's eyes flew open. "Kim?" There was no answer. He scrabbled to his feet, slipped on a loose stone, and began to tumble down the mountainside. Face planting on an rocky outcropping, he looked up to see Yori standing over him.

"How goes it, Stoppable-san?"

Ron grunted and stood up, more carefully this time. "Oh, uh, just fine."

Yori laughed. "Oh, Stoppable-san. You and your American style buffoonery."

"Yeah, that." Ron sighed. No matter how hard he tried, he could not seem to get rid of the clumsiness that seemed to come so naturally to him. Sensei had told him finding his 'inner calm' might help, but so far he was having no success.

He glanced up into the sky and frowned. "Will you leave me alone?"

Yori was surprised. Normally Ron didn't ask questions like that. What was even more disturbing was the slight hint of bitterness in his voice. It was not natural for him.

"Are you sure your all right?"

Ron didn't answer.

"Stoppable-san?"

Ron shook himself looked at her. "Sorry, vision again." Recently he had been receiving these unusual visions which seemed to foretell some doom he was supposed to stop. However, this one had been very clear. Something had either happened or would soon happen to Kim.

"Yori, I need a ride home, now."

**-KP-**

Rose felt the water flow into her mouth and nose, starting to suffocate her. Every time she took a breath, more water would rush in. She tried desperately to break the the restraints that were immobilizing her, but the pirates had done their job well. The chains refused to budge and she wondered how much longer she would be able to hold her breath. As she sank deeper into the ocean, her last breath gave out and she lost her grip on consciousness.

Rose awoke from her dream with a start to find herself drenched with water. Pulling her soaked hair out of her face, she glared at Mercer, who stood over her with a empty bucket in his hand..

"Do you always wake up your guests by dumping water on them?" she asked, irritated.

"Only when five alarm clocks fail to wake them up."

"Did you actually set off five alarm clocks?" Rose asked suspiciously.

Mercer indicated the collection on the table beside her bed. "Standard new agent treatment. Or, in this case, a guest."

Standing up, Rose picked up the sling hanging by the door and put it on. "Well, you can just be thankful I still don't have full use of my arm. I don't know if your little bank of secrets has this bit of information, but I hate being woken up."

"I should think you'd be very grateful, seeing as we have extended every other courtesy to you."

"True," Rose thought to herself. When she and Mercer had arrived at Shadow Agent Headquarters the previous night, dutiful medical staff had rushed her off to sickbay and treated her arm. From what she understood, they had fused the broken bone back together, but still suggested that she use a sling.

"Now, while I have few minutes to spare, would you like a tour of the facility?"

Rose reflected for a minute. "Might as well," she thought. "These guys could potentially become enemies, so it might be nice to know the layout."

"Sure," she replied.

"All right. We'll start with the deep, dark, secret of our success. We could not survive without it. And admission is not granted to the faint of heart."

"Worth checking out," Rose thought. Mercer led her up and down a set of hallways and finally up to a reinforced sliding door, with a lower rank agent standing guard in front of it. He guard saluted when Mercer approached and stepped aside. Mercer produced an identification card and swiped it at the security console.

The door opened with an ominous squeal, admitting a pungent odor.

Rose sniffed the air. "Wait, isn't that..."

Mercer inhaled deeply. "Ah, best coffee from here to South America, and you can lay your life on that. Cafeteria specialty. Come on in,. Breakfast was hours ago, but I'm sure I can still drum up a snack."

Rose mentally slapped herself in the face. "This guy is either a complete idiot, or he's playing me."

Apparently having the chief executive officer as your guide had its perks, for shortly thereafter the cook on duty concocted a three-course breakfast for her and a cup of the celebrated coffee for Mercer.

"Anything in particular to drink?" Mercer asked graciously.

"Got tomato juice?"

Mercer got up, went over to the counter, picked up a tomato and a glass, and brought them back to the table. "Here, make your own."

Rose simply glared at him. He then reconsidered and gave her order to the cook. While she ate, Mercer rambled on about the uses of the cafeteria, ranging from a mess room to a meeting place for the top brass.

"When you finish," her guide continued expansively, "we shall visit the auditorium and visual entertainment center. Most useful for general briefing. Also particularly nice for private video game sessions, if you're interested."

Rose sighed inwardly. "This is going to be a looong day..."

* * *

><p>Let me know what you think. I like reviews :)<p>

Next chapter, Rose has a run in with Ron and clashes with an enemy from the past. She also faces the dilema of whether to fix Kim's hand or not. Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter, **King of the Planets**. (I'm about two thirds of the way through it, so it should be up in about a week. It will ultimately depend on how much scoolwork I have...


	6. Chapter 5 King of the Planets

Hi everyone! Decimater41 here. I present to you Rose of the Night Chapter 5 in all it's shining glory.

Okay, ridiculous dramatics aside, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Rose is going to run in to Ron, before clashing with an old enemy. Who will win?

**Disclamer:** I do not own Kim Possible. Disney does.

Mercer, Cathy, and Burton were created by a friend of mine and used with permission. Any other OCs are mine.

Many great thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta reading.

* * *

><p>Rose flopped onto the bed, wincing as she bumped her injured arm. Today had been completely wasted. Mercer had taken her on a tour of the cafeteria, auditorium, gymnasium, rec room, and any other useless place you could think of. The only thing she had discovered was the questionable sanity of her guide. He either had a very warped opinion of what was important, or was just trying to annoy her. She looked at the half-rebuilt Kimmunicator on her wrist and sighed.<p>

"I should probably fix Kim's hand, but that would pose a problem for my plans. I'll play it by ear." Tomorrow was Saturday and she figured Kim had till three o'clock before the damage became permanent. All Rose would have to do was call Shego on the ear comm she had built, give her location, and request a pickup.

"No!" she told herself forcefully and shook her head. "Kim is _**not **_my friend and I am _**not **_going to help her." Frustrated, Rose jumped out of bed and kicked the wall viciously, doing nothing but hurting her foot.

"What did the poor wall ever do to you?" a familiar voice asked. Rose's eyes narrowed when she realized who it belonged to.

Rose growled. "Go away!"

"Hey, I didn't do anything to you either." Mercer replied with his usual mock offense.

"_He's right you know."_

Rose felt like screaming. "So know you're butting in too," she mentally yelled at her conscience.

"_May I use this opportunity to remind you of something?"_ the conscience asked.

"Just get it over with."

"_Kim never did anything to you either, yet you're going to let her live with an awful handicap her whole life. What kind of monster are you?"_

"Uh, excuse me," Mercer's voice cut in, sparing Rose from further lecture, "around here, we consider staring at the wall a sign of mental instability. Do I need to conduct you to the psychiatric ward?"

Though it was simply meant as a playful joke, Rose overreacted to the question and threw herself at Mercer. The agent sidestepped, and Rose stumbled out into the hallway, crashing into a tall, dark-haired, female agent.

"What on earth is going on here?" the agent asked, addressing Mercer.

"Rathy, meet Kose." Mercer yanked off his hat and slapped himself in the face with it when he realized his mistake. "Wait... ugh... just introduce yourselves."

Rose peeled herself from the wall she had just crashed into and stuck out her left hand. "The name's Rose. Pardon me for bumping into you, I was trying take his head off." She gestured at Mercer.

The agent shook the proffered hand. "Kathleen Potts. I appreciate your efforts to take his head off; however, we have rules against assault and decapitation." She turned back to Mercer. "On what business is she here, and, more particularly, why does she want your head?"

"Why does she want my head? Why does anybody want my head? Head-wanting is part of my job. She is a refugee... of sorts. I was just being my normal irritating self."

"You got that right," Rose snorted.

"Nobody asked _**you**_." Mercer retorted, while fake-glowering.

"I asked myself."

"So about this 'refugee,'" Kathy put in, "is there a particular reason she has been admitted to our top secret base of operations?"

"I didn't see anything useful, if that's what you're worried about," Rose muttered, half under her breath.

"Rush medical issues. She also threatened to leave me on the floor screaming for mercy." Mercer explained.

"And I'm still of mind to do it."

"Let me know when she decides to. I want to be there." Kathy requested.

"Trust me, you'd hear it." Rose replied.

"Violent type, I see. By the way, Miss Rose, outsiders are never shown the more important facilities, be they under the charge of Mercer the Messer-upper or not."

"I expected that, but come on. The most important place is the cafeteria? What kind of idiot is he?"

"I am still here you know." Mercer commented.

Kathy ignored him. "He is an excellent strategist, a good judge of character, and a complete lunatic. And to him, the cafeteria is the most important place. He designed it himself."

"I see. I'll presume that you're not to fond of him."

"Fond of him? He's the only person in the organization besides Boss who can claim to be my superior. Claim, mind you."

"No skills to back it up?"

"He's good in his own right, but he could never beat me up, even in his dreams. I lead the Special Forces, an elite group out from under Mercer's jurisdiction that serves Boss he-himself."

"He-himself?"

"Never mind."

"While we're talking about Special Forces," Mercer butted in, "why is their leader making one of her rare trips into _**my **_territory?"

"Boss wanted to have a private interview, not that it's any of your business."

"I used to be the only who got to talk to Boss before we started all this Special Forces stuff."

"Live with it. Anyway, you might want to get her," Kathy motioned to Rose, "out of here by tomorrow morning. You know Boss's policy on outsiders."

"Alright, alright," Mercer grumbled. Throwing a final fake-glare at Kathy, he walked off down the hallway, acting oblivious to the fact that Rose was still standing there.

"And I can now add rudeness to the list of his attributes," the red head muttered.

Kathy looked at her thoughtfully. "You remind me of that teen hero, Kim Possible, I think her name was. Any relation?"

"I'm her clone. Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends on what the question is."

"When Mercer found me at the ruins of Drakken's lair, he called me 'Miss Possible.' After I told him that I wasn't Kim, he recited my full name, without ever giving me a chance to say it. How does he know what my name is?"

"Mercer became interested in Team Possible a couple years ago, after the Diablo incident. He studied every bit of information we had on Kim and Ron, presumably running across your name while doing so."

"But I'm top secret. Very few people even know I exist."

"We have ways of discovering 'top secret' things. Now excuse me, I have a meeting to make."

Rose walked back into the hospital room and lay down on one of the beds.

"Boy is this a strange place."

**-KP-**

_The next morning._

Rose reeled wearily into the hallway outside the medical room, nearly bumping into an agent standing the door, who promptly snapped to attention.

"Agent Burton Potts reporting ma'am," he began in a respectful monotone. "Captain Mercer sends a message for you to meet him directly outside the cafeteria at five o'clock A.M. sharp, with emphasis on the sharp."

Rose looked at the hallway clock and noticed that it read quarter till five. "Wait a minute. Potts? Any relation to Kathy Potts?"

"She is my sister, ma'am." He saluted. "Good day." He then strolled off down the corridor like an obedient robot.

With some difficulty, Rose picked her way to the cafeteria and arrived just as the clock struck five. No Mercer. Two minutes passed. Still no Mercer. A full five minutes later, Kathy Potts walked up.

"Good morning Miss Rose. This way please." Rose followed Kathy, a questioning look on her face. "I must apologize for being late. I was just told a minute ago that you were going to be riding with me. Apparently you've caught Boss's attention."

"I'm not sure if I like that or not."

"For now, it's a good thing." Kathy walked up a console set in the wall and swiped a card in it. A portion of the wall swung open, revealing a cold room packed with frozen goods. Kathy proceeded to a door on the opposite side of the room and opened it. Rose did the same, finding herself in the frozen meat section of grocery store. The customers and staff paid them no attention as they walked through the store, leaving Rose totally befuddled. They exited the the store, walking out onto the street of a fairly small town. Rose looked at a sign reading _Welcome to Middle of Nowhere_.

"The citizens of this town are quite well aware of what lies below them, and haven't had a problem with us yet. In fact, a lot of the citizens are agents. As the name indicates, this place is cut off from most of the world, making it perfect for our base of operations. The reason this doesn't look familiar is because Mercer brought you in through a different entrance, meant for misleading possible spies." Kathy continued walking towards a small airport set on the outskirts of the town. On it sat a white plane with the Z-boy logo on the tail. They entered and Rose picked a seat by a window. The plane taxied into position and took off, the town soon fading into the distance. Rose glanced down at the passing countryside beneath them.

Kathy strapped herself in and turned to her companion. "I suppose you are wondering how a group of bumbling incompetents like us manages to call in favors from bigwigs like Nakasumi."

"The thought did cross my mind for a brief moment."

"Well, for one thing, I'd better make it clear that we are not all incompetents and that the behavior of the whole organization is not to be judged from the idiocies of Mercer. Nakasumi owes us a very big favor, but don't ask what. It's classified."

"May I dare to ask exactly what you guys are?"

Kathy shrugged. "I suppose. Mercer seems to think you trustworthy, and I am forced to admit that he can analyze character pretty accurately in spite of his silliness. We are a secret agency much like Global Justice, with the difference that we are much more secret, work on a smaller scale, and are not affiliated with any government whatsoever."

"Any connection to the 'all powerful' GJ?"

"Beyond having agents in it, no. Director knows we exist, but can't do anything about us. We put agents in 'The Worldwide Evil Empire' too, but usually we pull them out after a week or two. Too easy to lose agents that way. Anyway, Mercer showed you our useless stuff as another of his strange jokes. We have special laboratories, some top-secret equipment, and some highly advanced training centers. I don't know about regular agents, but the Special Forces people could outmatch Global Justice easily."

"Is there anyone who could best your Special Forces?"

"GJ's Agent Red, possibly. Nobody else that I can think of at the moment. We're not an elite force for nothing."

"What about an ancient mystical power?" Rose asked teasingly.

"I, personally, do not believe in ancient mystical powers. But if there were any, they would follow the normal trend of ancient mystical powers and defeat anything."

"Then how do you explain what Ron Stoppable did during the invasion?"

"Who knows he did anything? There is too little factual evidence for that. What are you trying to get at?"

"Not sure myself. Just another one of my random comments. Where are we going?"

"I have a mission in the vicinity of Middleton. I'll have someone drive you into town."

"Great," Rose drawled sarcastically. "Middleton, the one place I wanted to avoid. How long until we jump?"

Kathy checked an elaborate watch identical to the ones Rose had noticed on the wrists of Mercer and the other Shadow Agents. "We bail in forty-five minutes. Just sit back and relax. I have to plan my mission." She pulled a briefcase out from under her seat, opened it, and yanked out a file folder. She rifled through the contents, leaving Rose to her own devices for the rest of the trip.

**-KP-**

_An hour later._

Ron sat glumly in Middleton Park, lost in his thoughts. For once, the ninjas had actually flown him to his house, rather than making him find his own way home. When he had entered the house, a GJ agent had been waiting to give him a brief summary of Kim's situation. Ron hadn't been told much, but he inferred that someone had defeated Kim and that she was currently in a hidden medical facility. He had been simply flabbergasted. The idea of Kim being defeated seemed, well, impossible.

"It just doesn't seem right," he told Rufus.

The naked mole rat shook his head. "Uh, uh."

"Well, guess I'd better get moving. I should call Wade and see if he can get me in to see Kim," Ron mused as he stood up. "Or maybe I should get a naco. Haven't had one in a while. No, Kim first, naco later. Need to find a phone..." He strolled through the park, searching for a pay phone. When he finally found one, someone was leaning up against it, a newspaper covering her face.

"Uh, excuse me. You're in my way." Ron tapped his foot.

A discontented grunt issued from behind the wall of paper. "Have some patience will you?"

Ron nearly jumped at the voice. "It couldn't be," he thought. "Kim?" he asked aloud.

The newspaper was thrust aside to reveal an angry face that looked like Kim's. However her reply was most unusual.

"How. Many. Times. Do. I. Have. To. Tell. People? I'm not Kim!"

"Uh, KP, is there something wrong with you?"

"Don't give me that Stoppable. I am perfectly fine. I don't know what silly nicknames you call Kim by, but I certainly am not going to stand them. My name is Rose, not Kim. Got that?"

"Are you sure you haven't been memory wiped?" Ron uneasily inquired.

"Yes!" came the irritated reply. "I remember every miserable moment from my creation to this very instant. And to stave off your delightful questions, yes, I am a clone. Now leave me alone." Rose stamped off, leaving a thoroughly confused Ron thinking that he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

**-KP-**

Sighing in frustration, Rose plopped down on a bench, ignoring the person seated next to her. She looked at the now rebuilt Kimmunicator and sighed again.

"Kim probably has about four hours," she thought. "Why am I having all this internal strife? In the past, I always knew what to do. But after meeting Kim two days ago, everything feels so different."

"Uh, Rose? Are you listening?" a voice interrupted.

"Would you just leave me alone you stupid conscience?"

"I'm not your conscience and I've been trying to get your attention for the past minute now."

Rose came out of her trance and looked at the person beside her. She looked to be in her early thirties, and was approximately six feet tall. What struck Rose as both unusual, and surprisingly familiar, was her head of light blue hair.

"Do I know you?"

"My, you must really be out of it. It's me, Reese Ticulate."

"Let me think a minute. Reese Ticulate, where have I heard that name before?" Finally, recognition dawned on her. "Reese!" She threw her arms around the woman. "It's so good to see you again. But how did you know it was me?"

Reese laughed. "You have a certain aura about you."

"That's great to know," Rose replied sarcastically. "How's life been treatin' ya?"

"Good. You?"

"Not so good I'm afraid. I've got a lot on my mind right now."

"I can tell. How 'bout a shopping spree?"

"Sure." Rose snapped her fingers. "That reminds me. I left something of mine with someone at the local Club Banana. Could you direct me there? I found my way the first time, but I'm really messed up right now."

"Sure, you can come with me. I was planning on going there anyway."

"Great. Thanks!"

**-KP-**

Monique looked up as two people entered the store. The first one looked like some one out of a Japanese anime, having medium length blue hair, and a slightly pale complexion. The other, was either Rose or Kim.

"Welcome to Club Banana. Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah. I left something of mine with you a couple days ago," Rose replied.

Monique reached behind the counter and lifted out the black jacket. "Here you go." She looked at the mission outfit Rose was wearing. "By the way, for some reason, you do not look right in purple. It may fit Kim, but not you."

"Yeah, I know. I can't seem to find anything I like though."

"Well, then it's good you got me around." Monique reached under the counter again and pulled out a cardboard box. "Here, try them on."

Rose ripped the box open. A smile crossed her face. Reese leaned over to take a look and whistled.

"Great idea, Miss...?"

"Monique Jefferson. And you are?"

"Reese Ticulate. Nice to meet you." Reese shook Monique's hand. "So how do you know Rose?"

"She walked into the store two days ago. Seemed depressed."

Reese waited until Rose had vanished into the restroom, then sighed. "She's always depressed. I've known her for about a year now. She's never been the same since, since..."

"Since what?"

"Are you familiar with the Jupiter Gang?"

Monique nodded. "It's common belief that they're the ones who killed my parents. Rose mentioned that she had been part of them for a bit."

"Apparently Thomas Wilkinson, their leader, was Rose's boyfriend. Then," Reese took a breath, "he killed her best friend. I found her in a back alley all beat up. She was sobbing her head off and kept saying the name Randall over and over again. I took her to my house and heard the whole story on the way. We became good friends and she drops by from time to time. I haven't seen since her the invasion though. She sat down beside me on a park bench about twenty minutes ago and showed no signs of recognition. I was finally able to jog her memory, but something's very wrong with her."

"From what I heard, she did a number on Kim not that long ago. Ron called earlier today to tell me that Kim was in a hospital somewhere. He said he was going to see if he could contact Wade and find out the exact location, but hasn't called back yet."

"Any idea what Rose did to Kim?"

"I'm not sure." Monique frowned. "Ron mentioned that he had been told she was suffering from a serious injury and that they were working on fixing it at the time."

"Rose probably misted her then."

"Misted?"

"Maybe I should let-" Reese stopped as three teens, two boys and a girl, walked into the store. Clothed in black leather, they approached the counter, blank expressions on their faces.

"Welcome to Club Banana. How may I help you?" Monique asked, a bit apprehensively. It was very unusual to see guys in the store, except for when they came to buy stuff for their girlfriends. And these three didn't look like they were interested in buying anything.

The one who appeared to be their leader grinned. "You could kill yourself for us, but something makes me think that you don't want do that." He nodded to the boy on his left. "Blake, she's all yours."

Blake drew a switchblade from his pocket, and flipped it open. "Now just stay nice and quiet and you're the only one that's gonna get hurt."

Reese instinctively stepped in front of Monique. "Why do you want her dead?"

"We're coming back to finish a job we failed," the leader replied. "Kill them both."

Blake grinned, raised his knife, and prepared to strike.

"Come on Rose, where are you?" Reese thought.

In answer, there was a swooshing noise and Blake collapsed against the counter, a knife imbedded in the side of his head. All eyes turned to see an Rose standing twenty feet away, an irate look on her face. She wore a red and black version of Kim's mission gear, with her black leather jacket over top. On her feet were a pair of steel toe work boots.

"I'm impressed," the leader said. "You haven't lost one bit of skill. But there's still no way you can beat me, Rosie."

"And just why not, Tommy," Rose gritted out.

"Because you're scared of me," Thomas replied, still smiling. He turned to the girl at his side. "Elana, tell the boys to get ready to ride. I'll be done here in a minute."

Elana nodded and ran out of the store.

"So after losing me, you find another girl to torment."

"Not so Rosie. Unlike you, Elana understands the way of the gang. You were too nicey-nicey for your own good. She, on the other hand, will be the perfect next leader of the Jupiter Gang."

"Jupiter Gang!" Monique thought. "So these are the guys who killed my parents."

Rose spat at Thomas. "Does that mean you plan on dying any time soon?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Then allow me."

"Be my guest, if you're fool enough to try. I presume you would protest if I decided to use a weapon?"

Rose's face twisted into a malignant grin. "No, in fact, I'm suggesting that you do use one, if you don't want to die in the first ten seconds." She held her arms down at a forty-five degree angle.

Monique was completely confused. "What does she hope to do by..." she trailed off as a red mist began to drift from Rose's hands. Even Thomas seemed surprised.

"New moves Rosie?"

"No. This is actually quite old. I just never saw any reason to let you know about it."

"So, you do have some smarts after all. I was beginning to think that you were as dumb as your friend Randall."

The evil grin left Rose's face, and was replaced by a look of rage. "You'd better be quick on your feet, or your new girlfriend is gonna know how I felt when you killed Randall."

Thomas pulled out a switchblade, just as Rose lunged at him. He ducked, narrowly avoiding the mist the swing left behind. "Any chance of telling me what that is."

Rose fired a kick at him. "A highly dangerous acid."

"And who came up with that?"

"My creator, Doctor Drakken," Rose replied, creating a mist barrier in front of herself.

Thomas pulled out his pistol and began firing at her. Rose ducked behind a counter. "I hate to do it," she thought, "but it's my only option." She turned on the Kimmunicator. "Wade, I need some help here."

The African-American boy frowned at her. "On one condition."

"What might that be?"

"That you go to GJ headquarters and fix Kim's hand."

Rose cringed as a bullet whistled over her head. "I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I'm probably gonna be dead in minute, and both of us know that won't do Kim any good."

"All right. What do you need?"

"A distraction."

Wade smiled. "One distraction, coming right up."

**-KP-**

Director looked up as Agent Red entered her office.

"Ma'am, it's that Wade kid again."

"Put him through my private line."

Red nodded, and dashed off. Within seconds, Wade's voice came through the speaker on Director's desk.

"Dr. Director, I've located Rose."

"Where is she?"

"The Middleton Club Banana outlet."

Director activated the P.A. system. "Attention everyone, I need a strike team together in two minutes. Agent Red, you will be in charge, and I want Shego on the team. Meet at the hangar, destination will be announced there. Will Du, get over to my office on the double."

**-KP-**

Thomas looked up as water rained on his head. "Why are the sprinklers going?" he wondered. He looked back at Rose's hiding spot, only to see the bottom of a boot in his face. He reeled from the impact, the burning pain in his nose indicating that it was probably broken. "Nice one."

"Thank you." Rose pulled her knife out of Blake's head and charged at Thomas. Their knives met with ringing sound, and a modern day sword fight began. Circling each other warily, they jabbed, poked, slashed, and blocked, until Rose slipped on a fallen shirt. Thomas made a quick attack, and Rose held back a shriek of pain as the knife slid along her cheek. Regaining her footing, she glanced at a mirror and saw blood seep out from her slashed cheek. She retaliated and pushed Thomas ever closer to one of the windows. Then, in a classic 80's TV show move, she kicked him out the window.

Thomas landed heavily, a sharp pain shooting though is lower back while Rose landed gracefully on her feet. Attempting to get up, Thomas realized to his horror that he couldn't feel his legs and watched helplessly as Rose crouched next to him, a dark smile on her face.

"This is for Randall." With that, she buried her knife in his heart, extinguishing a life bent on making his fellow men suffer. Rose cleaned off her knife, replacing it in her pocket. "And," she said, talking to no one in particular, "I'll take that." She removed a Desert Eagle with a rose carved in it's hilt from his belt. She slid the gun into the unused equipment pouch on her leg. "I wonder if Kim stores anything in here?" The whirring of helicopter blades drew her attention upward. "Global Justice, eh. Wade probably figured I wouldn't help unless pushed." A UH-60 Black Hawk set down in the middle of the road, throwing the traffic into chaos and attracting the attention of several news cams. The other copter, an AH-64 Apache, remained hovering in the air, it's weapons trained on the street. Rose smiled to herself. "My, Kim is going have some explaining to do."

Shego and a green-haired agent stepped out of the chopper.

"Hey," Rose called out, "I didn't know that it was green day." She grinned at the unintended mention of her favorite band.

Shego frowned. "Why is there blood on your face?"

Rose ran a hand across her cheek, then looked at it. "Ugh. Slipped up a little during the fight with my ex." She gestured at the still figure on the sidewalk behind her.

"I presume you have an explanation for that," Agent Red spoke up.

"Yep. That is, or was, Thomas Wilkinson, head of the Jupiter Gang. Wanted in all forty-eight mainland states, if I'm correct. He and couple others tried picking on some civilians and I decided to get in the way. Broke the guy's back before breaking his heart, but meh that's karma for ya. By the way, there's another gang member dead inside the store."

"Impressive. Shego, get this girl back to headquarters. I'll stay for cleanup."

"Hold one second," Rose said raising her hands, "what makes you think that I want to go with you?"

Shego started to speak, but Red cut her off. "Because, if you don't, I will personally smash your head into the ground until it is unrecognizable."

Rose grinned. "You know what, I like you Red. You know how to get what you want. Fine, I'll go. Hey Reese," she called out.

"What is it?" the woman replied, as she emerged from the store.

"I need you to get all of my gear that's over at your house into one spot. I'll be over in a couple hours to pick it up."

"Gottcha," Reese replied, eyeing Agent Red coldly. Rose looked and saw that Red was returning the look.

"Could they know each other?" She thought. "I'll have to ask Reese some time." Rose stepped into the helicopter, and stood there as it took off, looking down at the ground disappearing below her. She turned to Shego.

"Kim's time is running out fast."

* * *

><p>Will Rose be in time to help Kim. How will Ron take to her once he learns the whole story? What will the Possible family think of Rose? And waht does she have planned? Find out in the next chapter.<p> 


	7. Chapter 6 Echoes from the Past: Part 1

Hi everyone! :)

First off, I want apologize for taking so long to finish this chapter. I was unable to get everything I hoped into the chapter. So some of the things I said would happen in this chapter, will actually occur in the next one. Sorry about those things.

**IMPORTANT: **I am currently rewriting the prolouge, chapter 1, and chapter 2. I was also be making slight changes to chapter 3. The updated prologue and chapter 1 are already up. As I am introducing some new stuff, I apologize if there is any confusion created by it. Any of that should be fixed when chapters 2 and 3 are updated.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, Disney does. I do own all OCs unless otherwise stated.**

Thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta-reading. This story would not be where it is without him.

* * *

><p>James and Ann Possible looked down at their sleeping daughter, worried looks on their faces. Kim seemed so peaceful lying there. Her right hand was wrapped up in sterile bandages in an attempt to keep down the infection. The two parents looked up as a tall woman wearing an eye patch walked through the door.<p>

"Elizabeth," Mrs. Possible said, an icy tone in her voice. "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough, Ann." Director replied in the same tone. A groan from Kim caused them to turn around. The teen sat up and looked around at her surroundings. Her blurry, half-asleep eyes could make out three tall things which she guessed were people at the foot of the bed. Various shelves and cabinets lined the walls, and some strange equipment sat in a corner. Kim glanced down at herself and blinked in confusion.

"_Why am I wearing a hospital gown?" _she asked herself. After rubbing her eyes to clear the blurry spots from them, Kim realized that the other people in the room were her parents and Dr. Director. She was about to speak to them, when she caught site of herself in a mirror. It was a funny kind of mirror though. Not only did it show show her standing up with her back to a hallway, it also put her in a red version of her mission clothes and gave her this ridiculous smirk. She narrowed her eyes, realizing that it was no mirror.

"What on earth are you doing here?" The other three in the room turned around to see who she was addressing.

"Well, well, looks like sleepyhead's awake." Rose sauntered into the room, carrying a decent-sized briefcase. "To answer your question, I was supposed to help you, but I can leave if you'd like."

"Rose," Shego growled, appearing behind the girl.

"Oh, knock it off, grumpy." Rose walked over to Kim and looked at the bandaging on her hand. She shook her head. "May I ask who did this slipshod work?" Not waiting for an answer, she began to unwrap the bandages. "Ouch," she said when she saw the hand, "I really messed you up, didn't I?"

"I don't think that one needs an answer," Kim muttered. "What exactly are you going to do?"

Rose opened her briefcase, revealing rows of test tubes and needles. She took out a beaker and two unlabeled bottles. "Shego, you are familiar with this process, correct?"

Shego rolled her eyes. "Why must you always ask the obvious?"

"In that case, if you and all these lovely people could leave the room, I'd be much obliged."

With a little persuasion, Mr. and Mrs. Possible were convinced to leave, and Rose struck up a conversation with Kim.

"So, how is your day going?"

"What is wrong with you! You beat me up and left me for dead, now you have the nerve to ask how my day's been!"

Rose pouted in mock offense. "Why so touchy. I'm just trying to be friendly."

"Friendly!" Kim shouted in disbelief.

"Yes!" Rose shouted back. "Now will you stop yelling?"

Kim lay back on the bed trying to sort through the conflict going on in her head

Rose placed the beaker on a table and began pouring liquids from the bottles into it. "I bet you're wondering why I attacked you and then just walked off."

"Yes I am," Kim replied angrily, "and you'd better have a really good explanation for it."

"I do. I simply lost control of myself, that's all."

"Do you expect me swallow that pathetic excuse?" Kim asked vehemently.

"It's not an excuse," Rose replied, looking carefully at the green substance in the beaker. "It's a fact. I don't make excuses, I state facts"

"Then that's a pretty lame fact."

Rose walked over to room's sink, put the plug in, and turned on the water. "Come here," she told Kim, pouring the contents of the beaker into the sink as she did so. Kim obeyed and looked at the green tinted water curiously.

"What is that stuff?"

"That, is the mixture that's going to fix your hand, provided I'm not too late. All you have to do is stick your hand in it."

"What makes you think I'm going to do it?"

"Well, if you don't your hand will be stuck like that forever." Rose smirked.

Kim hesitated for a moment. "How will I know if it works?"

"Your hand will feel like it's on fire, if I remember correctly."

"That's very encouraging," Kim replied, and stuck her hand gingerly into the sink. The effect was instantaneous. It started as a simple tingling, then escalated into a searing pain. Kim gritted her teeth together and willed herself not to scream. Two minutes later, it was over. The water had turned pitch black, and when Kim removed her hand, it was good as new.

Rose snapped her briefcase closed. "I'd best be going. See ya around." Kim didn't answer and stared at her hand in amazement. Rose shook her head and walked out the door, intentionally bumping into Shego.

"Kim's hand is going to be perfectly fine. You may now all go see the patient." The Possibles entered the room, Mr. Possible shooting Rose a curious glanced while doing so. Rose turned to Director.

"I have some stuff over at friend's house that I need to pick up. Is it okay if I do that now?"

Director nodded. "That will be fine as long as you have an escort."

Rose cast an annoyed glance at Shego. "I think she's already got that covered."

Director displayed one of her rare grins. "You'd think you two siblings the way you argue."

Rose's face turned as red as the flower she was named for. Shego broke out laughing.

"Oh that's too good. This has to be like the first time anyone's ever embarrassed _her_."

Quickly recovering her dignity, Rose huffed at Shego. "Knock it off." She picked up her briefcase and walked down the hall. Shego followed closely.

"Do you like the new outfit?" Rose called back over her shoulder.

"It's better than what you used to wear."

"Aw, come on. Those camos were classic."

"They looked ridiculous."

"Whatever." Rose pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number. "Hey, Reese. I'm on my way." She looked at the persistently following Shego. "Do you mind if I bring someone along?"

**-KP-**

A slim, tanned brunette walked through the halls of Middleton High, a very displeased look on her face. For Bonnie Rockwaller, summer school was such a drag, and, to make matters worse, Barkin made the students come in every Saturday so he could check their progress. It was downright infuriating. Ninety percent of the unlucky bunch of kids agreed with her, but there was one girl who actually enjoyed it. From what Bonnie could understand, she was doing high school prep, and was enjoying every minute of it, for some unfathomable reason. To add to her weirdness, the girl had white hair, which she wore in twin pigtails, a pale complexion, and pink eyes that seem to stare right through you. "Freaky" was the only word to describe it. Bonnie absentmindedly rounded a corner, then stopped still in surprise.

**-KP-**

"_Hey Rose, hurry up or we're gonna be late."_

"_Come on Randall. Cut me some slack." Rose loaded her guitar case into the back of her friend's truck._

"_I gave you plenty of slack, and you still can't seem to be ready on time."_

"_At least I'm not as bad as Tommy."_

"_You mean that half excuse for a boyfriend?" Randall snorted. "That guy won't do anything unless it helps him in some way."_

_Rose smiled. "And that's what makes him so smart."_

_Randall shook his head. "Well, if you're happy with him. Though I still get this creepy feeling that he's going to be the death of me." _

_Rose, shocked at his statement, looked at him in disbelief. "Tommy would never do anything like that."_

"_If you say so." However, the uneasy look did not leave Randall's face. "I gotta get something from inside. I'll be right back."_

"_Okay." Rose leaned back on the truck and stared up into the sky. "My life is perfect." _

**-KP-**

Rose was yanked from her ruminations to find herself flat on her back. Sitting up, she saw a brunette-haired girl in front of her, also on the floor. The girl frantically tried to gather up her fallen books and supplies, then glared at Rose.

"Just what are doing here? Come to lord yourself over me again?"

"Uh, no. I don't even know who you are."

"Oh, so now you're playing dumb. Surely you haven't forgotten me that quickly?"

"As I said, I've never met you."

"Come on Kim! Don't you remember me, Bonnie Rockwaller?"

Rose sighed. "That explains it. Get this into your head and do it quickly. I am not Kim. The name is Rose, R-o-s-e, that spells Rose, not Kim." And with that, she pushed past Bonnie and headed off down the hallway.

"What just happened?" Bonnie asked herself aloud.

"You just met one of the rudest people on earth." a vaguely familiar voice behind her replied.

Bonnie turned to see a woman with pale, green-tinted skin looking at her. "Hey wait, aren't you that person who crashed the prom to grab that guy Kim was with?"

Shego smiled. "I remember you. I don't think I've ever heard someone scream that loud before."

Bonnie fumed and stomped off. Shego let a snicker, then looked around. "Uh oh," she thought. "Where did Rose go?"

Her only answer was from the school fire alarm, which began to blare loudly. Shego hurriedly headed for one of the exits, as the few students around did the same.

**-KP-**

_30 seconds before_

Mr. Barkin stormed down the hallway, muttering to himself. In all honesty, he enjoyed teaching and tried to help his students prepare for the unfairness of life, but couldn't they have picked someone else to teach summer school? The only plus he had discovered so far was a girl who had an immense liking for school. An unexpected thing to be sure, but pleasing none the less. He continued to stomp down the hall, heading toward the lockers.

At the aforementioned lockers, a young man bearing the unlikely name of Don Fire was busily trying to stow all of his supplies away before Barkin showed up. It wasn't that Don disliked being yelled at, since he could take that easily. No, the reason was much simpler. Barkin's habit of calling all of the students by their last names was weird enough, but when your last name was "Fire," things would start to get embarrassing if he started yelling for you in the hallway. Don shuddered to think what would happen if Barkin should run into him here and accidentally triggered the voice activated fire alarm. He redoubled his pace and was just loading the last book into the locker when the dreaded custodian came into view.

"Mr. Barkin, wait-" Don began.

"FIRE!"

"_Fire_,... activating fire alarm," the school computer system chirped over the PA.

Red lights began to flash everywhere and an obnoxious alarm blared noisily throughout the whole school. Barkin clapped his hands to his head, then bolted for the school entrance. Don followed at a slower pace.

"He will never learn."

**-KP-**

Rose jerked her head up at the sound of the fire alarm.

"Weird," she thought, "I'm sure I would have smelled it if something was burning. What is going on?" She pulled a small computer chip from her utility belt and looked down at the Kimmunicator. "Let's see if this works." Rose opened up a port on the device, then inserted the chip. A small hologram of herself appeared on the Kimmunicator.

"Yes!" Rose exclaimed to herself. "It worked."

"It took you long enough," the hologram muttered.

"Zip it, Scarlet, or I might just deactivate you again."

"You wouldn't dare!"

Rose scowled. "Oh yes I would."

Scarlet huffed, then sighed in resignation. "What do you want?"

"I need a complete scan of this building and the reason for the fire alarm going off."

"I'm on it." The hologram winked out and was replaced by a 3D loading bar which slowly began to fill up. Rose rolled her eyes at the A.I.'s sense of humor.

"_Well,"_ she told herself, _"she is a copy of your mind, so that would make sense." _

When the bar was completely filled, an image of the school, also three dimensional, popped up.

"I've run a scan of the whole school," Scarlet's voice began, "and here's what I found. First off, the computer mainframes indicate that the voice activated fire alarm was triggered thirty seconds ago; however, a heat scan indicates that there is no fire. In fewer words, the alarm was activated by accident."

"So everything's fine?" Rose asked.

"Not quite. At these locations," Several of the school buildings on the display turned red, "I've found caches of explosives. And get this, someone is leaving the gym with what seems to be an electronic detonator. I don't think I need to tell you what that means."

Rose's face grew grim. "I can hazard a guess." She took off running down the hallway. "Scarlet, get Wade on the line."

"Can't you do it yourself?"

"Scarlet!"

"Fine. Contacting Kim Possible's nerd techie."

**-KP-**

Outside the school, Shego glanced around in confusion.

_"What on is going on?"_ she thought. _"First some alarm goes off, but now-"_ she stopped upon noticing the man walking out of the school. _"Wait, isn't that Stevie?"_

"Everybody, listen up!" the substitute teacher was yelling. "That alarm was a fake. Get back into the school until I properly dismiss you."

As Barkin was belting out orders to the students, a purple car drove up. Shego raised on eyebrow as Kim emerged from the vehicle.

"Hey Kimmie, what brings you here?"

"I was just on my way home when Wade called me saying that there was a fire here."

Shego grinned. "And you just couldn't resist a chance to make yourself more popular right?"

"I don't do this for popularity!" Kim insisted loudly.

"Yeah, right, whatever. It's not like I care. Anyway, from what I've heard, it was just a false alarm."

"Thank goodness for that." Kim replied, a look of relief crossing her face. "Wait a sec, what are _**you **_doing here?"

"Apparently one of Rose's friends asked her to swing by and pick someone up."

_Beep beep be-beep._

Kim pulled the old Kimmunicator out of her pocket and activated it. "What's the sitch Wade?"

"Kim! You have to make sure everyone stays out of the school building. There are explosives inside!"

"Rose!" Shego hissed. She raced toward the school. Kim looked at Wade, then ran towards the students who were unknowingly headed for their doom.

**-KP-**

Rose slid around a corner, and came face to face with last person she expected to see in this place.

"Elana," she said flatly.

"Rose," came equally unenthusiastic reply. The two stared at each other wordlessly for a full minute, then Rose took a deep breath.

"Planting explosives in a school, eh. Tommy definitely taught you well, though your stealth could use a bit of work."

"I didn't come here to have _you_ evaluate my abilities. Tommy was right. You're as useless and talkative as that stupid friend of yours was."

Rose ground her teeth savagely. "You might want to rephrase that," she stated coldly.

"Make me," Elana answered calmly.

"Oh believe me, I will." Rose removed from her gun from its holder and pointed it at her now startled opponent.

"He-he-hey now, you wouldn't shoot me would y-y-you?" Elana stammered .

Rose smirked. "Not so tough, are you? Now, take back what you said about Randall."

Elana held out a small, black, cylindrical object which had a red button on top. "Unless you put down that gun, I'm gonna blow this whole school up," she said, a determined edge to her voice. Rose faltered for a moment. She knew Elana was deathly serious, and Rose didn't really want to shoot her, but she couldn't just let her blow up the building.

"_My word," the voice of her conscience muttered. _

"_What?"_ Rose growled to herself. _"I thought you were supposed to be my conscience, not my babysitter."_

"_Well, it appears that I have to be both. Anyway, the answer to your problem is completely obvious. Your head is just so clouded with emotions that you're not thinking clearly. You don't have to kill the girl to stop her."_

Rose felt confused for a moment, before realization suddenly dawn on her. She smiled to herself then looked at Elana, faking a look of defeat.

"All right, you win." She started to put the gun on the ground, but Elana stopped her.

"Put it in front of me."

Rose laughed uproariously to herself. _"Elana,"_ she thought, _"you make this too easy." _

**-KP-**

The sound of voices drifted through the corridor, forcing Shego to a stop. The cool, taunting one had to be Rose, that she was sure of quickly. No one else Shego knew had that arrogant yet completely confident tone to her voice. She didn't recognize the other voice, but if Rose had planted explosives in the building, then the person was obviously in some kind of trouble.

But, when she entered the adjacent corridor, the scene that greeted her was slightly surprising. Rose was currently placing her gun at the feet of a short-haired blonde girl whose clothes screamed "gang member." She also held an object which bore a suspicious resemblance to a detonator.

"She must be the one responsible for the explosives," Shego muttered quietly, failing to realize that her voice carried in the silence.

**-KP-**

Rose grinned as Elana spun to look at Shego, giving her the opportunity she needed. She activated her mist, and brought her right fist up into Elana's face. Immediately, the girl began to scream in agony and her hands went to her face. In doing so, she dropped the detonator, and Rose reached her hand out to intercept it before it made contact with the ground. Grasping the deadly instrument firmly, Rose delivered a jumping back leg roundhouse kick to Elana's head. As a follow up, she threw a back kick which sent her opponent sprawling on the floor. Picking up her gun, Rose knelt beside the girl as Shego approached.

"She's out cold." Rose placed a finger on Elana's neck. "Still has a pulse though. Her face should start to turn black in a few minutes, and the faster we can get her cured, the less pain she'll be in."

"I thought you didn't care how other people felt," Shego scoffed.

Rose looked at the detonator in her hand. "Normally I don't, but I kinda pity this girl though. After all, I've been in her position before." She shook her head. "Tommy is still manipulating her, even from beyond the grave. Anyway, we need to get her out of here, and disable all the explosives."

"Let me guess, you're going for the explosives."

Rose smiled impishly. "Yep, 'cause I'm the one who knows where they are."

"Oh? How come?"

"Never mind." Rose reached into her utility belt and withdrew a piece of paper. "Give this to the medical personnel. It contains the formula for creating the cure for her condition. It should also work on anyone else I get."

Shego was completely flabbergasted. "Why on earth are you doing this? Back in the old days, you preferred to let your victims live out their lives in misery. Why the sudden change?"

"It's not a sudden change," Rose replied, a rueful smile on her face, "not sudden at all." She took off running down the hallway. As she ran, a small tear slipped down her face. She quickly wiped it away, then stopped and activated the Kimmunicator.

"Scarlet, I need the locations of those explosives."

**-KP-**

"You _really _expect me to believe that there are explosives in the school and that someone is going to set them off?" Barkin asked in a voice which indicated that he did believe it whatsoever.

"Well, um," Kim began.

"I didn't think so." Barkin acted like he was going to ignore the warning, but apparently stopped and reconsidered. "Students, Take a seat on the grass, now!"

At that moment, Shego stumbled out the door carrying someone in her arms. She put twenty yards between herself and the school before setting Elana down on the ground.

Kim ran over to her. "What happened?"

Shego gestured to the injured girl. "She was trying to blow up the school and Rose went a little too far in trying to stop her."

"Same thing as she did to me?"

"Just about. However, she gave me this." Shego stood up and produced the piece of paper Rose had handed to her earlier. "Apparently, it's the cure for her acid mist."

"You seem surprised."

"I am. It's not something she normally does."

Kim looked around. "Where is,..." she hesitated, unable to finish.

"The one who shall not be named?" Shego asked. Kim nodded. "She's inside, disabling the explosives."

"I see." Kim looked down at her feet.

Shego stood up. "Look, if you don't want her to be near you, tell her that. She shouldn'tkill you. She's not that sensitive, although with how much she's changed..."

"That's not the problem. It just feels really odd to talk to a copy of myself, especially when it's a stable clone that acts like the rest of us."

For a moment, Shego almost looked guilty."I'm not sure how Drakken made her stable. I showed up at the lair one day, he introduced her as his latest project, and things went downhill from there."

"What happened?"

"Rose began to show an increasing lack of care for how other people felt. That's why I hesitated to bring her on missions. Fortunately, Drakken was so obsessed with his 'secret weapon' thing that he refused any requests she made to come along."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Says the one who couldn't care less about how other people feel herself."

Shego shook her head. "Rose is content to stand back and watch a person die in agony from wounds she's inflicted. Even I'm not like that."

A shocked expression crossed Kim's face.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her," Shego assured the redhead.

"Don't worry?" Kim exclaimed. Shego gave her a please-be-quieter gesture as several heads turned their way.

Kim lowered her voice slightly."There's someone out there who looks like me and is a sadistic killer, and you're telling me not to worry? My reputation is on the line here. Who knows what rumors are gonna spread around!"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about." Kim and Shego looked at the person who had interrupted their conversation.

Shego frowned. "Who are you... and how do you know about Rose?"

"The name's Reese Ticulate. Rose and I have been good friends for a while now."

"Oh yeah," Shego replied, "you were at the fashion store when we showed up."

Kim looked confused. "What?"

Shego sighed and began to explain what had happened at Club Banana that morning. Reese smiled.

"_Rose, you sure have a way of stirring things up,"_ she thought. _"Wait a minute, where is Rose?"_ Reese looked around, but could see no sign of her. Then her eyes fell on a white-haired girl sitting with the rest of the students. She hastened over.

"Hi, mom," the girl greeted her.

Reese looked down at her daughter. "What's going on?"

"Barkin made us sit here. Supposedly there are explosives in the school."

"You seen Rose?"

"Nope. Is she here?"

Reese nodded. The sound of sirens caused her to look back at where Kim and Shego were. An ambulance, fire truck, and bomb squad truck were pulling up nearby. Reese walked over to Barkin.

"Can I grab my daughter? She's got a medical appointment in fifteen minutes."

Barkin nodded. Reese thanked him and told the girl to follow her. She walked up behind Kim, motioning for her attention.

"Uh, excuse me, but is Ann Possible your mother?"

"Yes." Kim answered, puzzled.

"Do you if her schedule is still normal today?"

"Well, she took an emergency break earlier, but she should be back to work by now."

"Could you take my daughter to the Middleton hospital then? She's got an appointment with your mother in fifteen minutes and something just came up... so I can't take her."

"Sure, it's on the way home."

"Thanks." Reese took one glance at the medical personnel loading Elana into the ambulance and winced as she saw how black the girl's face looked. "Rose?" she asked.

Shego nodded in the affirmative.

A sigh escaped Reese's lips as she headed for her car. Upon reaching it, she noted that the front passenger seat was occupied. She got into the car and glared at Rose.

"What do you want?" Reese asked.

"To know why you came to take care of Jess after asking me to do it."

"You were taking too long. What do you really want?"

Rose simply handed her a small black box. "Is this what I think it is?"

Reese gripped it tightly. "Where did you find this?"

"Inside the school. There were five stashes of about fifty each. Enough to blow up half the neighborhood. I found a Jupiter gang member trying to detonate them."

Reese turned the box over a few times, looking concerned.

"How did the Jupiter gang get their hands on stuff like _this_?"

Rose shrugged. "Tommy had lots of connections." She got out of the car. "Well, I got places to be and things to do, as I'm sure is the case with you."

"Okay, I'll see ya 'round. Oh, and Rose,... try to stay out of trouble."

Rose smiled. "You know me, Reese."

"Yes, I do," Reese replied sourly. As she started up her car and drove off, the Kimmunicator rang out.

"What's up Scarlet?'

The hologram put her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to contact your 'client' today, remember? Are you still going to go with tomorrow night?"

Rose nodded. "Yes, tomorrow night it is."

* * *

><p>Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I would make some dramatic spiel about what's in the next chapter, but it would probably innaccurate. :D<p> 


	8. Chapter 7 Echoes from the Past: Part 2

I'm baaaack! Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the thing you've all been waiting for, ROTN Chapter 7!

As of now, all revisions to previous chapters have been complete. I have added bits and peices to some of the earlier chapters, so I suggest giving them a reread.

Thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta-reading.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible and do not claim to do so!**

* * *

><p>Kim looked down at the girl she had agreed to take to the hospital and gave her a friendly smile. "What might your name be?" she asked.<p>

"I'm Jess Ticulate," the girl replied proudly, a smile stretching across her face.

"Well then Jess, let's get in the car."

"Hooray!" Jess bounded over to the Sloth and slid into one of the back seats.

Shego raised an eyebrow. "Is she a teen or a toddler?"

Kim shrugged her shoulders. "Some kids are like that. If she's going to see Mom, she might have some mental illness."

"Whatever. You go run your little trolley service. I'm going to see if I can find you-know-who. Who knows what kind of trouble she could get into."

"Or make." Kim added over her shoulder as she headed for the Sloth.

"Yeah. That's probably more likely." Shego murmured. She scanned the parking lot and spotted Rose engaged in earnest conversation with some boy. Shego suspected that they were old acquaintances, since she doubted that Rose would hit it off so easily with a stranger. She decided it would be safe to ignore her for a few seconds at least and turned away.

The snotty brunette Rose had collided with earlier was wailing into her cell phone, loudly complaining to the unlucky person on the other end. "But Junior," her voiced reached Shego's ears, "you promised to take me shopping today!" She glowered angrily as the voice on the other end whined that his father had forbidden shopping sprees for the next week at least, since the last one had nearly bankrupted them...

"Hey, Bean Brain."

At the sound of the all-too-familiar nickname, Shego whirled and saw Rose motioning to her. The elder woman walked over, looking highly displeased. She brandished a glowing fist in Rose's face.

"How many times do I have to tell you? No. Silly. Names. In. Public!"

"Ouch," Rose muttered in mock offense. "Why must you be so snappy? I was only trying to get your attention, you know. Everyone is so rude these days," she lamented.

Shego looked curious at Rose's tone. "That's a new attitude. Where'd you pick it up?"

Rose grinned, banishing her imitation of Mercer. "From a friend of mine. He's the kind of guy who wears off on you."

"Obviously," sighed Shego. "Now did you call me over just show off your ability to talk like an idiot, or was there another reason?"

"You looked lonesome."

A suspicious look crossed Shego's features. "Lonesome?"

Rose smirked playfully. "Yep. You get this funny look to you whenever you're away from Drakken for any length of time..."

"Rose!" Shego warned, turning a pale shade of crimson.

The impish redhead ignored her, humming a garbled version of 'Here Comes the Bride.' "I think you miss him dearly. In fact-"

Before Rose could say anything that would get her head taken off, the boy she'd been talking with stepped in between the two. Giving Rose a stern glance, he turned to Shego.

"Hi, my name's Don Fire. You must be Shego. Rose told me all about you."

"_She better not have_," thought Shego, but she shook the hand he offered her. "What's with all the weird names around here? First Possible and Stoppable, now Fire."

"That's Middleton for you," Don chuckled. He turned to Rose. "Tell you what, I'll take Shego out to eat somewhere while you go get your things from Reese's house. The three of us will meet up at my place in, let's say, an hour. Then you two can go back to doing whatever, and maybe swing by the cookout I'm having this evening."

"Whoa, there. No one's taking me out to eat anywhere," Shego announced to her apparently deaf companions.

"This one of your regular cookouts?" Rose asked.

"Yep, the whole gang's gonna be there," answered Don.

"Sounds like fun, but I'll probably be busy tonight," said Rose. "If I don't make it, I should be back in a week or so."

Shego opened her mouth again, but decided that she should never turn down a free lunch, particularly when it might give her a chance to keep an eye on Rose later.

"Okay." Don went to his car, followed by Shego. When they got out of Rose's earshot, the ex-thief was still feeling paranoid.

"Are you just gonna let her run off on her own? Who knows what kind of trouble she could get into!"

"Lots," Don replied. "However, she's been living in Middleton for roughly a year and hasn't called any attention to herself until now. If she had any intentions of going on a rampage and killing tons of people she would have done it already." He got into his car and fired up the engine. Shego, still not convinced, got in the front passenger seat. After loudly revving the engine, Don grinned at her. "Hold on tight."

Shego fiddled with her seat belt and clicked it into place. "I've flown with _Drakken_, squirt. This will be a breeze."

**-KP-**

Rose shook her head as Don's car raced out of the parking lot and careened wildly into the busy streets.

"It'll be a miracle if the idiot doesn't get a ticket," she said to herself, vaulting into the seat of the motorcycle she and Shego had arrived on. Moments later, she was headed for the outskirts of Middleton, and a short ten-minute drive brought her to the house she had called home for the past year. It had never really _felt_ like home, but then again, nothing did.

Resisting the urge to kick the flowerpot by the door, Rose silently entered the house. As expected, Reese wasn't home. Rose ascended the stairs and paused at the door to the guest room, indulging in a brief moment of self-pity. She had nothing in this world but herself-no friends, family, or purpose in life. All of that had ended with Randall's death.

Rose wandered into the room and collapsed on the bed. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, her mind replaying the night Tommy turned her world upside down... the night she lost her only true friend.

**-KP-**

_Rose perched on the back of Randall's truck, staring at the sunset._

"_Randall?" she asked her best friend._

"_What is it, Rose?" he replied._

"_I've been wondering, why do you come out here all the time? What's your obsession with watching the sunset? Yeah, it's pretty, but not very exciting."_

_Randall was silent a moment. "I come out here contemplate my failures so I don't bother anyone else," he said almost teasingly, but with a slightly hard edge to his voice. Rose understood his implication perfectly. There was only one failure big enough for him to brood over._

"_I'll be fine," she tried to reassure him, "Tommy's a good guy."_

_Randall looked at her like she was crazy. "You're calling the leader of one the most vicious gangs in the country a 'good guy'?" he nearly shouted._

_Rose jerked away from him, offended. "Hey! At least he doesn't yell at me or criticize me for making decisions he thinks are bad. There's absolutely nothing wrong with him."_

"_You mean, nothing other than the fact he kills people left and right without caring."_

"_I'm sure you're just exaggerating," Rose replied firmly. "Sure he's killed some people before, but that's not a big deal."_

"_Not a big deal, huh?" Randall murmured, shaking his head. "Then I really have failed you." He slid off the truck and walked away. Part of Rose wanted to follow him, to apologize for whatever she had done, but all she could do was sit there._

"_I am not going to go out of my way to please a jerk who can't admit he's wrong," she huffed to herself. A trace of doubt snuck through her mind, but she instantly crushed it. _

_Moments later, she heard the gunshot._

**-KP-**

In a back alley about two minutes walking distance from Reese's house, a lone figure with bright green hair stood silently contemplating her surroundings. Agent Red shivered. Storm clouds had set in not long before, changing the relatively sunny weather into bitterly freezing temperatures.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a soft female voice called.

Red glanced to her left and noticed a pair of blue eyes glowing in a dark corner. "Beta?" she asked in mild surprise. "I thought you'd gone running off with your little Dragon friends."

"I did," came the smooth reply.

"Then what did you call me out here for?"

"I have a suggestion."

"Continue," Red said flatly.

"Something big is about to happen, a storm is about to break. I need the assurance that you'll be on my side."

"Your side? Don't tell me you're going to betray _them_ like you betrayed me."

"This has nothing to do with the Dragons," Beta hissed. "This is about our original mission."

Red narrowed her eyes. "You think you know where the asset is?"

"No, I already have it."

"What?! Are you an idiot?" Red yelled. "Do you know the extent of the power you're dealing with? If you can't control it, we're talking destruction on a global scale."

"I'm aware of the possible outcomes. I can't reveal too much at this point, but I think I've found a solution to all our problems."

"Then what do you need me for?" Red inquired, crossing her arms.

"Well, as you know, the next recipient of the Dragon power has reached the appropriate age and the current leader of the Dragons is looking to 'pass on the torch,' so to speak."

"Let me guess, I'm supposed to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Correct. So, what is it?"

Red thought for a moment. "No, I've moved on to other things. If you want to keep following some mission we gave up on years ago, be my guest. I, however, do not want to end up like Gamma and Delta."

"Very well. Till we meet again, Alpha."

Red watched as the blue eyes vanished. She then produced a radio form one of her pockets and turned it on.

"Director, this is Agent Red. I was just contacted by Beta, and I now fear the situation is worse than we previously thought. Requesting permission to accelerate my plan."

On the other end, Director took a deep breath. "Permission granted. Make the target _Enterprise_, unless you think she can't handle it. I need its security systems tested."

"Don't worry, I'm positive she can do it," Red assured her. "See you back at base. Red out." She replaced the radio and gazed into the corner Beta had occupied not long before. As she did so, her irises glowed a bright red and a smirk crossed her face.

"Game on."

**-KP-**

"Have a great weekend!" Mrs. Possible called to one of her coworkers as she exited Middleton General Hospital, accompanied by Kim and Jess.

"Since I'm taking Jess back home in the Sloth, you sure you don't want a ride?" offered her daughter.

Ann shook her head. "Thank you Kim, but your father's coming to pick me up anyway."

"Okay. See you later!" The two teenagers left for the parking lot.

As Ann reached the curb where James would arrive in a few minutes, her spine prickled. She spotted a familiar face and frowned. "I've been meeting too many old acquaintances lately," she remarked quietly, her gaze fixed on the woman in front of her.

Agent Red grinned at her, eyes glowing. "Hello, Ann. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Twenty-three years, to be precise. I trust you haven't forgotten?"

Ann stood up straight. "I don't know what you want, but if you do anything to my family I'll..." she trailed off.

Red just shook her head. "I'm just here with a warning. You might want to keep a careful eye on your allies. You never know when one of them might just be using you to further their own cause. Keeping your daughter away from Rose might not be a bad idea either."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying you have a lot of enemies right now, and that I'm not one of them."

"Well you're definitely not a friend!" Ann said evenly.

"Agreed," Red answered smoothly. "However, I have as much interest in keeping _**her **_alive as you do. I believe that is enough, seeing as Beta wants her dead."

Ann managed to keep a neutral expression. "I don't believe..."

"I just talked to her ten minutes ago and her motives were very clear. But anyway, I must be going." Red turned and strode down the sidewalk as subtly as a woman with her technicolor hair could.

Ann mulled over the encounter as Mr. Possible drove up to take his wife home. Red was as pretentious as ever, but she wasn't in the habit of lying.

**-KP-**

After returning to the Ticulate house from Don's cookout, Rose hesitated by the front steps. Shego had been hovering like a hawk again and muttering about being glad she warned Kim, but otherwise conducting herself like a model reformed supervillian. The clone folded her arms and decided it was time to force another confrontation. Kim needed to be brought to see things Rose's way, and fast.

It was pitch black by the time Rose walked up to the Possibles' house. She spotted a dull orange glow emanating from their living room, and saw several individuals sat around the fireplace, enjoying an animated conversation.

"What are you doing here?"

Rose glanced up in mild surprise to see Kim perched on the roof. "Oh, hi," she greeted her amiably. "I just came by to see how you were doing."

"That's not your thing. Why are you _actually_ here?" accused Kim, skipping over the preliminaries.

"You've been listening to Shego too much," Rose replied, vaulting up beside her. "She tends to exaggerate the truth."

"Really? She doesn't need to."

Rose snorted. "That's what she'd like you to believe. Tell me, how many people did she say I've killed?"

"She didn't give specifics, but she implied that-"

"See?" Rose butted in. "Listen, I'll tell you how many. First, one of Drakken's henchmen, which was an accident. The second time, a guard at a bank, out of... necessity. The third one wasn't even a kill: Shego just annoyed me so much that I tried to slit her throat. And then there was Tommy, which you saw. Besides that, I've killed a few in honest self-defense, and Shego doesn't even know about those. My track record isn't as bad as she's making it out to be."

Kim's eyes hardened. "Even one murder in cold blood makes you a killer. And I'm more inclined to trust someone who's not _you_."

"It's all very simple," Rose muttered. "Shego's being my guard dog, all the while expecting me to get into trouble, and doesn't want to get connected with the whole business. She's hoping to gain allies by being the one who warned everybody."

"You really expect me to believe that?"

Rose shrugged. "I really don't care whether you do or not. It doesn't affect me at all."

Kim shook her head. "You're the most apathetic person I know."

Rose sighed quietly. "Not completely. Did I ever tell you about Randall?"

"Not that I can recall," Kim replied carefully.

"Well, it all started on the night Drakken launched his Diablo robots." Rose paused.

"Shego mentioned you went missing that night," put in Kim, since she seemed to be expected to say something.

Rose nodded. "Yep. I had nowhere to go after everything blew up. Drakken was your little Cell Block D, so I 'borrowed' a car and headed for Middleton."

Kim rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

"Anyway, when I arrived, I ran into some low-grade costumed type in your backstreets and kicked him outta town. Right around then, I ran smack dab into a charming lad by the name of Don Fire."

"The name sounds familiar," Kim interjected.

"Uh-huh, he goes to Middleton High. He's actually doing summer school there right now. But yeah, I got to know him, and met Randall through Don. Randall, in turn, went to work turning me into a 'respectable citizen,' as he put it." Rose took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, it didn't last. My head got the better of me and I ran off with a good-looking guy on a motorcycle. Who happened to be a gang leader, and a real rat of a boy. Sounds a little familiar?"

Kim shrugged. "I dated a synthodrone. And I didn't know it."

"Yeah, in my position, I should have known better. But I ignored the evidence, and Randall paid the price. Tommy killed him in cold blood, making some half-baked excuse about protecting me. When I refused to accept his explanation, he decided that he was done with me. I escaped with my life, and I met up with Reese after that, but I've been different ever since."

Kim felt a guarded pang of sympathy for the clone. After all, she was created by her circumstances... sort of.

Rose stared off into space, eyes focused nowhere in particular. Jumping from star to star and finally to the full moon, she seemed to search the heavens for some kind of sign. After a few minutes of silence, she stood up stiffly.

"Well, I'll be seeing you." She dropped to the ground below. Kim watched as she boarded her motorcycle and drove off. A beam of light issued forth onto the path as the front door swung open.

"Kimmie?" her mother's voice called out.

"Up here Mom," Kim replied. Mrs. Possible walked outside and looked up at her daughter.

"Who was that who just left? Some friend of yours?"

"Yeah," Kim answered. Mrs. Possible looked up at her questioningly, but got no response.

"Alright, dear, dinner is ready."

"Okay," Kim replied, leaping from the roof. She took a last glance in then direction Rose had left, wondering if next time they met, it would be as enemies.

"Well, good luck," she mumbled begrudgingly, sliding through the front door.

**-KP-**

Rose tore through the streets of Middleton, desperately trying to focus on her driving. But after nearly crashing into a car, she decided to pull into a parking lot and collect her thoughts. As she sat there glumly, the Kimmunicator rang out.

"What is it Scarlet?" Rose asked as the hologram popped up.

"I got a message from your client with a target and location."

"Go ahead," Rose sighed.

"You are to break into the Global Justice facility code-named 'Enterprise' and get a prisoner, designated 'Gemini,' out."

"Gemini," Rose muttered. "I think I know the name. Can't recall where I heard it."

"Excuse me?" said Scarlet politely.

Rose shook her head. "Nothing, Scarlet. Continue."

The AI's image appeared to view her curiously. "I've been given the coordinates and the schematics for the place. The date is tomorrow, just as planned."

"Tell the client it'll get done, then contact Jenkins tell him to get ready."

"Understood." Scarlet thought for a moment. "Rose, I can understand what you're going through. If you ever need anything, I'm right here."

Rose tried summon an appreciative smile. "Thanks Scarlet, you rock."

Though the reply was less than enthusiastic, Scarlet reasoned that Rose received some comfort from the gesture. As Rose gunned the motorcycle back out into the streets, rain began to pour from the dark, cloud-filled skies.

The storm was breaking.

* * *

><p>Thanks for reading! See you in the next exciting chapter, <strong>R.I.P.<strong>


	9. Chapter 8 RIP

Hey everyone, DR41 here. Here's the next chapter of ROTN.

I do not own Kim Possible, Disney does. All OCs are mine unless otherwise stated.

Many great thanks to Stormchaser90 for beta reading.

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><p>Peace and serenity pervaded the early morning Sunday air. The great orange fireball of the sun rose slowly over the horizon, painting a mural of brilliant colors in the sky. The cheerful sound of birds chirping floated on the gentle breezes circulating throughout Middleton.<p>

Kim sat up and stared out of her window. She noted the sharp contrast between the cheery morning and the violent storms of last night. Rolling out of bed, she bounded energetically down the stairs. She detected a familiar mole rat squeak before her foot hit the bottom step, and deduced triumphantly that Ron must have dropped by – probably in hopes of extra breakfast. How that boy did love to eat...

Below, she found Ron wearing a hole in the living room carpet with his dogged pacing. His usual optimism was overshadowed by an equally characteristic expression of overreacting panic. Mrs. Possible emerged from the kitchen at this point, and Kim shot her a look of inquiry that clearly asked, "What's up with Ron?"

Mrs. Possible shrugged, as if to say, _"I don't know, Kimmie."_ Aloud she said to their guest, "Ron, why don't you and Kim go eat breakfast? I'm sure James won't begrudge you a simple bowl of cereal."

The voice of Kim's other parent floated into the room, remarking with a distinctly Barkin flavor that, "Stoppable shouldn't be popping in at the crack of dawn and wandering around in our house all morning," and that "if he overstays his welcome, I'm sure I could find great accommodations for him in a _black hole_..."

Ron's eyes brightened nonetheless and he eagerly followed Kim out of the room and up to the table. Over breakfast, Ron became talkative. Kim felt it would be safe to start asking questions. "What's bugging you?" she said casually, almost teasingly. "Don't even think about telling me you're fine, 'cause I know you're not."

Ron sighed. "I'm just worried about that clone."

"Rose? She's no big. I'm more worried about how the gang that tried to blow up the high school got their hands on experimental explosives. Apparently they were the same type as the the ones that have been stolen recently."

Her attempt to change the subject wasn't entirely successful, as Ron looked at her in surprise.

"_No big_? Do I need to remind you how she nearly **killed** you?"

Kim brushed off his concern. "She did go and risk her neck to get me out alive."

This seemed to stump Ron, for he said nothing in response. Kim put her arm around his shoulder.

"I'll be just fine. Maybe Wade can dig up something on her." She fished in her pocket for the old Kimmunicator Wade had given her to replace the one Rose had helped herself to.

Wade's image popped up on the screen, still wearing his pajamas. "Hey Kim, what's up?"

"Can you get me all available information on this Rose character?"

Wade nodded. "I started a search a couple days ago, but didn't get any results until last night."

"Well?" Kim asked in a 'what did you find' tone of voice.

"When everything else turned up blank, I went to GJ's classified data banks. There, I found a 'Project Dragon.'"

"How does this relate to Rose?" Kim asked.

"There's a set of messages linked to the project," Wade explained. "They're voice logs of a conversation between Dr. Director and an Agent Red about a cloning project involving you. Most don't make sense, but I think the latest has what we're looking for." He tapped a button on his keyboard and the conversation began playing.

"_How's your little investigation going?" _Director's voice spoke from the Kimmunicator.

"_Fairly well," _a female voice replied.

"_Have you had a chance to look her over? Is Rose the one we need?"_

"_Everything checks out. She's a stable clone with all the right readings. There are few things which were not as expected, but ten years is a long time."_

"_Agreed," _Director's voice replied. _"So what's next?"_

Kim could hear the sound of a sharp breath being dawn. _"There's one way to know for sure, but I'm going to need your complete trust."_

"_Why do I think I'm not going to like this?"_

Red's voice chuckled. "_Because you have every reason not to. I need you to allow her to make a raid on a GJ installation of your choosing and extract a prisoner from there. The tighter the security, the better."_

"_And just how is this going to help?"_

"_You'll see in due time."_

"_All right. Make contact with her. Just be careful not to tip her off to your identity."_

A certain tone in Red's response would have given Kim the chills, if Kim Possible was the sort of person to get chills. _"Don't worry, Director. I've been planning this for a very long time."_

There came a pause. "And that's it," Wade finished.

Ron looked flattened, but Kim fell into deep thought. "Have you checked up on this Agent Red?"

Wade nodded. "Yep. Except for a picture, the GJ records have nothing about her. No measurements, age, blood type, bio, or service record."

"Sounds fishy, if you ask me," Ron put in, recovering enough to speak.

Kim silently agreed with her boyfriend. "Hey Wade, I don't suppose you did any more research on that 'Project Dragon'?"

"Kim," Wade replied defensively, "you know I don't deal with stuff _that_ touchy."

Kim glared at him knowingly.

Wade sighed. "Fine. I looked it over, but couldn't make much sense out of it. As I said before, most of the conversations are way over your heads."

"I don't need the technobabble, just get the point," Kim growled impatiently.

"Well, Project Dragon appears to be a defense against a group called The Dragons of Rodhigan. It calls for the cloning of the next possessor of some dragon power. The clone would remove the power from the current holder, then be placed under the influence of mind control. From there, the clone would be used to wipe out the remaining members of the Dragons."

"How does this apply to Rose?"

Wade frowned. "Not completely sure. I'm going to try and contact King Wallace of Rodhigan. He might know a bit more about these 'Dragons.'"

"Good idea. Anything else?"

Wade nodded. "Just a few minutes ago, I received an anonymous message stating that Rose would be breaking a prisoner out of the Global Justice facility _Enterprise_ tonight."

"Is there any way of finding out who sent it?"

"I wish, but it's too heavily encrypted. One thing I can be sure, no human did it. Trust me when I say it's far too complicated. I'd warn you to ignore it, but I'm pretty sure that won't change your mind."

Kim grinned slightly. "You know me." She turned to Ron. "You coming?"

Ron nodded. "You bet, KP. I got your back."

"Thanks, Ron. Wade, get us a ride."

**-KP-**

Toadville, Nevada. Nice small desert town, at least at first glance. Population, three hundred or so, though a good bit more would show up during the summer. There was only one thing out of place. Smack dab in the middle of the western-themed town stood a very modern stockade. This small fortress was the headquarters for an elite group of mercenaries, whom a certain red-head was paying a visit to.

"All right, do I need to go over this again?"

Rose looked at them men seated at the table with her. A big burly one whose name tag identified him as "Jenkins" stood.

"I think we got it, right men?"

The other men nodded. Jenkins looked back to Rose.

"We're good. You can count on us."

Rose smiled. "That's why I came here." She and Jenkins shared a firm handshake. "Well, I got stuff to do before tonight. See ya at the airport."

As Rose walked out of the mercenaries' headquarters, the Kimmunicator rang out.

"What's the sitch Scar-" she stopped suddenly. "Wade? What do you want?"

"I see you've picked up Kim's lingo," Wade replied. "And who might 'Scar-' be? Anything to do with the difficulty I had contacting you?"

"I don't like to be disturbed," Rose growled.

"Well, your little 'job' tonight is probably to be disturbed whether you like it or not."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "How did you find out?"

"Someone sent me an anonymous message giving the location, time, and objective of your job. I did some further digging, and have reason to believe that your client is an agent from Global Justice."

Rose fell silent, lost in thought. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really care. A client is a client. I'm sure there's a reason. Now if you would excuse me, I'm kind of busy." She ripped out the Kimmunicator's battery. She tried to dismiss the worries Wade's call had put in her mind, but they continued to linger.

"Excuse me, miss," a voice interrupted her thoughts. Rose turned to see a woman with green hair standing before her.

"What are you doing here, Leafy-locks?"

Red narrowed her eyes. "Don't push it, Rose. I know what you're up to."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked all-too-innocently.

"First of all, nobody comes to this place on casual business. It's not like you can hire mercenaries to go and get groceries for you."

Rose smiled at the image Red's statement brought to mind.

"And second, _I_ happen to be your client."

At this, Rose's eyes instantly narrowed on the agent. "If this some kind of trap, you can forget the whole thing."

Red chuckled. "Rose, I don't need an elaborate scheme to try to capture you. I'm more than capable of doing that right here and now if want to. Now, I need you to listen very carefully. I have hidden numerous caches of explosives throughout _Enterprise_, which will destroy all communications, neutralize weapons systems, and create an open path to the prison cells. This will activate them." Red handed Rose a fancy device. "It's a Promethean Mk. II detonator. I'll leave it up to you to decide the best time for its use."

"Why are you going through all of this just to get one villain out of jail? I don't see how he's worth that much to you."

"You will," Red replied. "Very soon, in fact."

**-KP-**

_That evening..._

"Alright, is everyone clear with the plan?" Rose glanced at he circle of mercenaries surrounding her. The leader, a burly man maned Jenkins, gave her a thumbs up.

"You know us. Don't worry, we'll get everything straight."

"You'd better. If I get captured or killed, you don't get paid."

This brought a chuckle from the group of men. These guys were hard up enough for cash that they could be trusted to do anything, no matter how difficult, to obtain it. Rose knew she could count on them, despite the apparent insanity of her plan.

"Thirty seconds to jump!" the pilot's voice echoed over the plane's intercom. Rose made her towards the back of the aircraft. Glancing down at the glowing red bands of light on the prototype battle suit she had "borrowed" from Wade's closet, she mentally ran over the stages of her plan one last time. Satisfied with her preparations, she signaled the pilot to open the cargo ramp.

"Everyone, grab a secure handhold!" she yelled. Gale force winds ripped through the cargo hold as the opening ramp revealed the forests of North Dakota stretched out several thousand feet below them.

"Five, four, three, two, one." Rose threw herself through the opening. After a brief glance at the rapidly fading C-130 Hercules, she turned her gaze to the brightly lit fortress below. The sprawling structure, home to GJ's elite forces, also served as a high security supermax for some of the more notorious criminals. It was surrounded by a system of guard towers. One of these was Rose's current target. Waiting as long as she dared to pull her chute, she alighted fifty yards from the tower closest to the gate.

Activating the battlesuit's stealth system, she sprinted to the base of the tower as searchlights locked on the patch of ground where she'd landed. It would take them awhile to find her black parachute. Quickly and quietly she dropped four cubes at each leg of the tower. Reengaging stealth mode, she sprinted for the main gate. She managed to sneak in behind a truck entering the facility, then looked for a place to hide. Her eyes locked onto the base's radio antenna, her next target. Navigating an open courtyard with speed and precision, she clambered hastily up the side of the communications building. Crawling up beside the dish-shaped antenna, she produced a remote from her backpack.

"It's showtime."

**-KP-**

Form the cockpit of the C-130, Jenkins watched as one of the watchtowers exploded in a burst of green fire. Dashing back to the cargo hold he started yelling orders.

"Raleigh, prepare the men for drop. Wilford, is the jammer active?"

"Yes sir," the man replied. "She's got it online. Any calls for help will now be directed to us."

"Copy, that. Stand by to receive distress message."

"Confirmed, receiving signal." Wilford announced.

"This is the Global Justice facility _Enterprise_, does anyone read us?" the message was laced with heavy static, but still understandable. Jenkins stepped up to their radio.

"This Captain Frederick Jenkins. My team and I are on board an aircraft two miles from your position. What is your status?"

"We're under attack by unknown forces. Requesting any help you can give."

"Copy that. Instruments are getting a lot of interference so there must be a jammer nearby. We'll land and provide backup until comms are restored." Jenkins nodded to Wilford, who began lining up men by the cargo ramp. He turned off the radio and went to join them.

"Remember," he yelled, "don't fire until I give the word!"

"Twenty seconds to drop," the pilot announced.

Jenkins charged his weapon, a grin crossing his face. "This is going to be fun."

**-KP-**

Over at GJ headquarters, Dr. Director confronted Agent Red.

"How's your little plan going?"

Red shrugged. "As far as I know,well."

Director snorted. "I'm inclined to think otherwise, seeing as we haven't received a distress signal."

"I don't expect us to," Red replied coolly. "She's better than that."

"You really think so?"

Red nodded. "Just wait and see."

**-KP-**

From her hiding spot atop the munitions building, Rose could see GJ's forces searching the premises, as well as Jenkins and his men. However, the earlier explosion had done its job and, as a result, most of the GJ soldiers were looking for her outside. Well, they were about to get a rude wake up call, if Red hadn't been lying about the explosives. Her eyes locked upon a figure squatting by the radio antenna. He held something up in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Rose whispered tersely, pulling yet another remote from her backpack.

An eerie green light danced across the base as a wall of fire incinerated the roof of the comms building. The structure collapsed in seconds. Explosions continued to rock the base as additional pillars of green flame reached up into the night sky. Within seconds, the complex had gone from strict organization to pure chaos. Down in the open courtyard below, GJ forces were overwhelmed as Jenkins and his men turned on them. Rose vaulted off the roof and ran post-haste for the prison cells, activating her suit's stealth system as she did. A well-timed explosion the destroyed the entrance and Rose dashed right in. Desperately raking her mind for the directions to the prisoner's cell, she couldn't help but get a feeling of _deja vu_. Except this time she was breaking a criminal out of jail, not rescuing Kim.

Surprising, there were no guards. Moving quickly,she finally found the right spot. A tube of laser lipstick dealt with the bars and moments later, the prisoner was free. But when she looked at him, her gaze was met with a blank look of shocked disbelief.

"I can't be," he wailed. "I saw you die!" He reached out cautiously to touch her arm. Upon making contact, he recoiled in terror and retreated to the back of his cell. "Please don't hurt me!" he begged.

Rose walked closer. "Why would I want to kill you?"

The prisoner pressed himself up against the wall. "Don't you remember? You threatened to kill me in fifteen horrible ways last time we met."

"You are Gemini, right?" Rose asked, deciding to make sure she had the right person.

The man nodded, looking slightly relieved. "So you have forgotten. Well then-" Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by the sound of boots in the corridor. Rose turned to see Jenkins and couple of his men coming down the hallway.

"You took your good old time didn't you?" she told them in mock irritation.

Jenkins shook his head. "We've cleared an exit and ready to extract on your command."

Rose gestured to Gemini. "Here's the guy. Get him out in one piece. I'll be the distraction."

Jenkins nodded and led Gemini off. Rose retraced her path until she reached a shadowed corridor. About halfway through it, she felt a familiar presence, causing her to stop and turn around. "Why, hello,"she said. "How pleasant of you to join. I wasn't expecting company, but I suppose I can find places at the table for you."

Out from the shadows stepped Kim and Ron, both looking rather displeased. Kim raised an eyebrow when she saw the battlesuit Rose was wearing. The clone simply grinned at her.

"Could you thank Wade for letting me borrow this? Its been most useful."

"Tell you what," Kim replied, sinking into a fighting stance, "you can thank him in person before I send you off to Cell Block D."

"Deal." Rose answered.

"_You know," _the voice of her conscience interjected, _"even with the suit, you're still outmatched. Surrender might just be the best option."_

Rose simply rolled her eyes. However, the annoying voice did have a point. Despite his appearance, Stoppable represented the most formidable opponent she had faced up until now. Beating him would take a combination of skill, incredible reflexes, and a whole lot of luck. Especially since Kim...

That was it! Ron's biggest weakness was Kim. He would do anything to protect her. Now all she had to do was use that to her advantage. This bit of information processed, Rose began to do what she did best, executing plans while in the process of creating them. Noting the distance between her and her opponents, she charged forward.

In response, Kim pulled back her fist to strike, exactly what Rose wanted her to do. She grabbed Kim's arm as she struck and threw her into her sidekick. As the two fell to the floor, she activated the suit's stealth system.

Kim and Ron scrambled back to their feet, only to find Rose nowhere in sight. Ron concentrated for a moment, calling upon his mystical monkey power. His blue aura flared into existence, bathing the corridor in light. Moving with extreme caution, Rose positioned herself behind him, then made her move. Executing a clean leg sweep, she caught him by surprise, sending him the floor. Then, before he could react, she leaped on Kim, using the enhanced strength provided by the battlesuit to smash her face into the wall,Kim's nose starting to bleed. With the teen stunned, Rose pulled out a knife and stuck it to Kim's throat, just as Ron made it back onto his feet.

"Why don't you just mosey on out of here," Rose waved her free hand at Ron, "and your girlfriend here won't get hurt. Well,... not badly, at least."

Ron faltered, not sure what to do. Kim nodded at him, and he reluctantly left. After he made his exit, Rose chuckled softly.

"It's so cute, isn't it? Love is such a precious thing. Don't you think?"

Kim gritted her teeth. "If you do anything-"

"I don't think it's him you have to worry about." Rose pressed the knife a little harder into Kim's throat, enough to nick the skin and draw blood. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about myself."

"Why are you doing this?" Kim asked, trying to prolong any rash action on Rose's part.

"Why, you ask? Simple. I'm showing you how the other side lives. I'm showing you what those of us less fortunate than yourself have to do to survive. And now, I'm going to show you how to fail." At that, removed the knife from Kim's throat and sharply kneed her in the spine. Kim staggered forward, then turned to face her.

Rose replaced her knife, then turned and ran. Instinct kicking in, Kim started to chase her, not stopping to consider the repercussions of doing so. It only took seconds for her to realize her mistake, but it was already to late. Her foot caught a pipe on the floor and she went down. She jumped back to her feet, in time to receive a vicious right hook to the face, swiftly followed a side kick. She tried to return a kick of her own, but Rose activated the shield on her battlesuit. Kim reeled backwards from the impact, giving Rose the opportunity to land several more attacks.

"You know," Kim panted, "Ron will be back any minute now. Why don't you just give it up? I'll make sure Director doesn't send you straight to the lockup."

Rose laughed. "While your generosity is greatly appreciated, I assure you that it is not necessary. But, you do make a good point. It will not take the doofus long to get bored and come crawling back here." With lighting speed she lashed out again, striking Kim before she could react. The teen hero recovered quickly and returned several strong attacks of her own. For several minutes, the combatants traded blows, landing numerous hits on each other. Kim finally wrenched the advantage from Rose when one of her kicks hit Rose's right arm, breaking the still-healing bone with an audible, sickening crack. The clone leaned back against the wall, face contorted in agony. She tried to shake it off, but the pain was too much.

"Giving up?" Kim asked.

Rose shook her. "No," she gritted out. Her left hand made it's way to the pouch hanging from the battlesuit's belt. Kim watched the move with curiosity, but didn't move to stop her.

That turned out to be one of the worst decisions she ever made. As Kim was about to activate the Kimmunicator, Rose made her move.

It only took three simple motions. First, she removed her gun from its holster.

Secondly, she raised it up to shooting level while flicking off the safety.

Finally, after marking the look of pure terror on Kim's face, Rose pulled the trigger.

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><p>Well I'm off to catch a few hours sleep before school. Hope you enjoyed reading. :)<p> 


	10. Temporary Author's note

Winter is coming... and so is a long overdue update. Courtesy of school and then work, a lot of things escaped my mind, this story being one of them. I was going through old files the other day and stumble across the half written next chapter. It I now almost near completion. I just have a few finishing touches left and hope to release it within the next two weeks. This author's note will be deleted when I upload the new chapter.


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